Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Dirty Little Workout!

Do you workout on a regular basis? At home or a gym? Solo or with a buddy? Do you walk or run? wii fit, treadmill, swim, bike?
Having been a personal trainer and an aerobic instructor, worked full time in the fitness arena (YMCA!) for years I know the importance of cross-training, varying the mode of training. Also important when trying to lose weight is understanding calories in vs calories burned. One of the BEST training tools is a Polar F4. The great little device lets me know when I'm in my training zone, keeping me working out hard enough, not too hard, keeping track of calories and I'm writing down the summary at the end of the workout. Keeping a notebook or workout diary helps me with motivation and accountability.
This morning I went to the park with Cesar, walked and ran 3.75 miles. My journal entry for today:

time, 52 minutes, time in zone, 50 minutes, average heart rate 136 bpm, highest heart rate 156 bpm, calories 346. (I still have my core workout to do!)

My daily workout goal has been 500 workout calories a day. The workouts vary from walking & now running, solo or with one or two dogs, wii fit, Fitness Coach (another wii game workout) pilates, Reebok slide, stability ball, hand weights and bands. Lots of variety!!!
So why did I call the "A Dirty Little Workout". Saturday was a great day for gardening, my favorite activity and I was curious to see how many calories I'd burn during this activity. On this particular day I was making digging up grass, making a new bed and transplanting 2 rose bushes. Summary: time 5 hours, time in zone, 3 hours and 28 minutes, average heart rate 117, highest heart rate 145, calories...drum roll please.....are you ready for this? 1484!!! Ok, maybe it wasn't so "little"!
I have more pictures of my garden posted here.




6 comments:

Tessa said...

Your workout goals are inspiring! Thanks for sharing them with us!

I try to walk/run a mile daily, but sometimes it doesn't happen...my goal is at least 3 days a week! :)

Tessa said...

By the way, I would *love* the cinnamon roll recipe you mentioned on your comment on my blog. Could you email it to me at tm1224(at)gmail.com? Thanks so much!!

maryhanks said...

I've had to work up to my current goal & didn't start this overnight! Fibromyalgia, menopause, osteoporosis and just needing to drop 10-15lbs have made my workouts a priority! I'll send you the recipes, no prob., happy to share!

Ilena said...

Beautiful garden! I am more of a gardening exerciser myself. I love the hard work and being able to look at my results (the garden not the mirror!)

Unknown said...

I just started training for the Disney half marathon. I have a a list of things to do before I die, which isn't going to happen anytime soon, and I want to cross this off. I enjoy every second of it. I have a workout mix that energizes me and I hae the support of friends and family.

I did four miles today in a little more than a half an hour which is really good for me right now. I'd like to be ready on race day with a 7 minute mile. We'll see. Your post was inspiring, thanks.

maryhanks said...

Sounds like you have the makings of a very successful race. I've got my tunes too that make the workout much more fun! Cheers from the Peach state for your 1/2marathon run!