Emi inspired running/workout

[Kilo]

Hey, is it healthy to step forward in the routine every single day?
I mean, there are 3 days for each week written on it. (W1D123 and etc) Am I supposed to do it once, then skip a day, then do it again?
Am I supposed to repeat the same challenge for 2 days?
Or can I keep it like I'm doing now?
I really don't want to skip a day.

[Althamus]

The intention is that you skip days, so I exercise Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and have Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday off.

The most efficient way to exercise involves actually minorly tearing your muscles apart, and then when they heal they will heal into larger muscles. You'll know this is happening right when your body aches like heck after exercising
The day off is to let your muscles regrow. If you exercise them in this period... I'm not sure if it's actually bad for them or not, but it certainly won't help them to grow as fast.

If the exercise you're doing is just 'light exercise', something that's easily within your capabilities to do (if you're capable of a 5km run for example, a 1km jog is np) then you can do it every day, but it won't grow your muscles as fast. However, there's no time limit on exercise, if it suits your lifestyle better there's no reason why you can't do smaller exercises every day instead of more extensive exercises, it'll just take a bit longer to get to the 5km.

[MoogleDee]

Heyo, long time no post!

Back from Sakura-Con and I've learned my lesson from last week. I'm going to take an extra two days of rest from the weekend and resume my runs on Wednesday. I'd run tomorrow, but I don't want to ruin my M/W/F thing I have going. Rest is a part of exercise, after all.

[Kilo]

Aaaw, that's bad.
I ain't really sure if I want to build musculature.
But maybe in the future I'll want it, so that leaves me with...
1. Doing it everyday and build musculature slowly (Which is quite appealing, since I still have 2 years left until I care about it.
2. Skipping days and getting anxious for another run, which maybe is healthier, since it is NOT light exercise for me. Today I came home in a very, very tired state. I was limping (Oh, come on, not "limping". My right leg was just hurt a little bit when I walked) and I kind of blacked out on my couch.
BUT I was happy. Even though my leg felt like it got slammed by a freaking airplane.

[Mirrormn]

So earlier today, as I was walking back to my car after work (about a 3 minute leisurely walk), I decided, for no particular reason, that I was going to sprint the distance instead.* And I did. I've never really sprinted before, except at the end of Ct5k jogging sessions, when I have been too exhausted to really maintain the speed for more than a few seconds. In doing so, I realized a couple of things:

• Sprinting feels amazing! It's like flying or something. For the rest of the day I felt subtle urges to run from place to place just for the feeling of it.
• Based on the new and unique soreness I am currently experiencing in my quadriceps, sprinting utilizes a very different set of muscles than jogging. Jogging requires a lot more work from the lower leg muscles, as you use your feet to push your legs along, whereas sprinting requires a lot more work from your upper leg muscles, as you drive your entire leg toward the ground as fast as possible.
• This probably explains why Emi sprints everywhere she goes! (As well as why she mainly runs sprints on her track team instead of longer races) She has no lower leg muscles, so walking and jogging are probably more troublesome to her than sprinting. The subtle balancing and locomotive forces effected by the feet and lower leg muscles during walking and jogging are probably very difficult for her to emulate with prosthetics, whereas sprinting allows her to fully utilize the power of the leg muscles she does still have.

Anyway, I just thought this line of thought might be interesting to some other runners.

* This is actually pretty cool for me personally, because in the past few weeks, I have been feeling incredibly lethargic most of the time. For the past year and half, I have been eating at an extreme caloric deficit in order to lose weight, and although the weight loss has been very successful, I think I may have been overdoing it by starting the Couch to 5k program without increasing my intake of food as well; my metabolism has just been unable maintain that level of activity without punishing me in the downtime. Having realized this, last week, I decided to increase my daily diet by 350 calories per day (up to 2000 from 1650; my basal metabolic rate is around 2100 and maintenance rate would be 2800-3000 factoring in activity), in the hopes that it would make me feel healthier and less lethargic. And it did! So hurray for me!

[dunkelfalke]

2. Skipping days and getting anxious for another run, which maybe is healthier, since it is NOT light exercise for me. Today I came home in a very, very tired state. I was limping (Oh, come on, not "limping". My right leg was just hurt a little bit when I walked) and I kind of blacked out on my couch.
BUT I was happy. Even though my leg felt like it got slammed by a freaking airplane.

Don't train everyday unless you want to meet the three ugly sisters: Overreaching, Overtraining, Rhabdomyolysis.
Proper recovery is as important as the actual training.

[NoOne3]

And, that's also for you there, Kilo:
Don't push yourself too much. Blanking out on the couch after training is not a good sign, or rather is a good sign you might be trying too hard. Also, since you are still at school, maybe it would be helpful to seek some proper guidance, we are the internet here, the best place to look for advice, but also the best place to find a bad one. 5k program seems to be quite safe, in the hands (legs) of responsible people, but I don't know if it's as good for younger runners.
I really try to avoid patronising you, but isn't there a P.E, teacher you could talk to? Does your school have a running track?
It was one thing missing in the picture while reading Emi's path. Apart from Nurse there should be some kind of a coach present, keeping her in place.

[ook]

So earlier today, as I was walking back to my car after work (about a 3 minute leisurely walk), I decided, for no particular reason, that I was going to sprint the distance instead.*

Hah that's cool, I too have felt the urge to sprint home a few times from my car after work, and yes it feels awesome.

[completesky]

I'd also like to be doing some sort of sprinting program, but have no idea how to partner it with the Bridge to 10K program in order to keep ample recovery time.

Any ideas?

[Althamus]

Someone with more biology knowledge than me needs to work out which muscles are used in jogging and sprinting, and how much they overlap.

I would've thought that it would be fine to do something like the 100 pushup program as well as the 100 situp program as well as the couch to 5K program at once, because they all tax different parts of the body. As long as you can make sure your energy/protein intake is high enough to sustain you through 3 moderately brutal regimes at once.

However, to me, jogging and sprinting both use the legs, and I would've thought that the two programs wouldn't be immediately compatible. You could try and hybrid them, do the first half of couch to 5K, then the first half of the sprinting program each day you train?

@Kilo, when you say 'blacked out', do you mean came home very tired and went to sleep, or literally blacked out, as in no control over staying conscious? Either way, I'd say you're pushing yourself too hard, and in the latter, I'd be seriously concerned.

@Mirrormn, I need to get to where you are sometime I miss being able to sprint without dying very quickly.

[Mirrormn]

@Mirrormn, I need to get to where you are sometime I miss being able to sprint without dying very quickly.

Hey man, 2 years ago I was so heavy and out of shape that I actually broke my ankle by stepping off a curb incorrectly. I never, ever thought I would be the kind of person to run around places just for fun. Set yourself a goal and then accomplish it!

[Kilo]

Don't train everyday unless you want to meet the three ugly sisters: Overreaching, Overtraining, Rhabdomyolysis.
Proper recovery is as important as the actual training.

Okay then

And, that's also for you there, Kilo:
Don't push yourself too much. Blanking out on the couch after training is not a good sign, or rather is a good sign you might be trying too hard. Also, since you are still at school, maybe it would be helpful to seek some proper guidance, we are the internet here, the best place to look for advice, but also the best place to find a bad one. 5k program seems to be quite safe, in the hands (legs) of responsible people, but I don't know if it's as good for younger runners.
I really try to avoid patronising you, but isn't there a P.E, teacher you could talk to? Does your school have a running track?
It was one thing missing in the picture while reading Emi's path. Apart from Nurse there should be some kind of a coach present, keeping her in place.

There is a coach in a nearby track, but the only exercise we're allowed to do there is riding a bike on a dirt trail. And he is kind of an ass.

@Kilo, when you say 'blacked out', do you mean came home very tired and went to sleep, or literally blacked out, as in no control over staying conscious? Either way, I'd say you're pushing yourself too hard, and in the latter, I'd be seriously concerned.

I don't really know or remember it. My leg was feeling heavy while browsing so I laid down on my room's couch with all lights on (I don't have a laptop), then I napped for 10 minutes or so and then woke up.

[dunkelfalke]

Don't train everyday unless you want to meet the three ugly sisters: Overreaching, Overtraining, Rhabdomyolysis.
Proper recovery is as important as the actual training.

Okay then

Dude, we all know the urge. Overtraining is no fun, though, it forces you to stop doing sports for weeks, sometimes months. You don't want to do that. What you can do is to go for a walk on recovery days, because an easy walk is an excellent recovery.

[gRaViJa]

I've been slacking a bit here because of a full agenda and terrible weather: it has been raining continuously for 4 days here now =/ This evening i'll certainly do my push-up session and if tomorrow's weather is terrible again, i'll go use a static bike i have. 45 mins of cycling on steep hills will do the trick as well.

[Mirrormn]

Boom boom, Week 5 Day 3 repeated and accomplished properly this time. The majority of the run was pretty easy, almost bordering on pleasant - partly because I took a slightly slower pace than my first Day 3 attempt, partly because I made sure to drink plenty of water beforehand, and partly because I modified my posture and breathing to reduce the fatigue of repetition that probably lead to the stitch in my side that caused my first attempt to fail.

Unfortunately, the soreness I developed in my quadriceps from whimsically sprinting around yesterday caused the last portion of my route - which, as I've mentioned several times before in this thread, consists of a very steep uphill incline - to be incredibly hellish, since jogging uphill employs much more of the sprinting muscle set than jogging on flat ground does. At the moment, I think my upper leg muscles are so sore that if I tried to get up from my computer chair, I would fall over =/

Anyway, onwards to Week 6! Given how easy the middle of today's run felt, I don't it will be it will be a very difficult week.