As reported by ABC News, President Elect Barack Obama doesn’t get in quite as much time at the gym as he would like, but he still manages to be fairly consistent. “Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts,” he said. “There’s always a trade-off between sleep and working out. Usually I get in about 45 minutes, six days a week. I’ll lift [weights] one day, do cardio the next. I wish I was getting a 90 minute workout.”

If one of the busiest men in the world can manage to get in a workout 6-days per week, what’s your excuse for not exercising?

Here is a 20-minute body weight circuit that you can do at home that will rev up your metabolism in no time:

• Body weight squat (10-20 reps)
• Push-up (10-20 reps) - do it on your knees if you must
• Reverse Lunge (10 reps per leg)
• Plank (30 second hold)
• Close-grip Push-up (10-20 reps)
• Side Plank (20 second hold per side)
• Mountain Climber (10 reps per side)

Do this with no rest between exercises.

Four miles yesterday. Really frustrating if you ask me. I am amazed how much fitness I’ve lost in the last three or four weeks while on the shelf. The good news is that I have no pain in my hip or leg. This after last week’s 18 miles. The bad is that I am really struggling to make it through the easy runs. Just a couple of weeks ago I was running 9:45 easy miles. Right now I’m struggling to make it through 4 miles at 10:20 pace. There is *no way* that I am ready to start a marathon cycle.

I know - as much as I preach patience, when it comes to me I’m not the same.

If you are by a newsstand or bookstore this weekend you may want to pick up a copy of Oxygen Magazine’s Winter 2009 Fat Loss issue.

Catapult Fitness Blog has received our first offline recognition, being featured in an article entitled 7 Weeks To A Better You! (Page 83).

It is a thrill to be featured in one of the premier women’s fitness magazines although my niece quickly brought me down to reality by pointing out that I was not used as the fitness model in the spread.

Now I have a new goal for this upcoming year!

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

Made my first run of the New Year yesterday. It was cold. It was wet. It was perfect running weather! The only thing that wasn’t perfect was me! The goal was a 12 mile run around the Back Bay with the Cal Coast club. But, I was kind of like a football team committing a penalty in the red zone. Whistles. Flags. “Half the distance to the Goal” Yup - I made it out and back six miles.

It was a tough call. I was well within my target heart rate.

My last blog was about some of my accomplishments during 2008. I was thinking back to how I really had no goals for the year once I completed the RnR marathon. It’s a bit of a wonder that I accomplished what I did while just wandering down the path!

So, it’s time to set some running goals for 2009! Here they are:

1. Build my base to 35 - 45 miles per week
2. Put in 1500 miles during the year
3. Run one marathon
4. Keep it fun!

Shooting low? Maybe. But of the four goals, I think #4 is the highest priority for me.

Now that we’re in the second day of the New Year, I’m certain that many of you will be heading to the gym.

If you’ve been following the advice on Catapult Fitness Blog, you’ll be doing so with a clear set of goals and plan of action. If fat loss is one of those goals, high intensity interval training (HIIT) needs to be part of that action plan!

There is no best interval training for fat loss, however, recommendations I have received from Craig Ballantyne, Founder of Turbulence Training include:

• 1 minute on, 1 - 2 minutes off, repeat 6 times
• 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off, repeat 6 times
• 45 seconds on, 90 seconds off, repeat 6 times
• 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off, repeat 8 times

Make sure to include a 5 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool-down.

And remember, you can use all types of interval training methods for these workouts:

• Treadmill running
• Stationary cycling
• Outdoor sprints
• Rowing
• Elliptical machine (not my fave, but an acceptable alternative if you have knee problems)

Here’s a brief video of Craig explaining HIIT training:

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

If you enjoy this article, please consider sharing it via your favorite social media, like Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter or Kirtsy. Thanks!

Happy New Year everyone!

There’s no time for any lallygagging here at Catapult Fitness Blog as we all hopefully by now have our 2009 fitness goals in place (read: written out on a piece of paper with an associated plan of action!).

You plan to work out hard this year and rest assured you are going to be sore.

Personally, I like the feeling of post-workout muscle soreness as it makes me feel as if my time working out was well spent. I’m also a firm believer that “change” and “comfort” do not belong in the same sentence when it comes to body composition.

If you are here, then you’ve made it to 2009. Happy New Year!

Yesterday was 2 days in a row without pain! Yay! Four more miles! I hope I’m back on track. I still feel slow, but afterwards, I analyzed my run data and noticed that my recovery pace yesterday was *exactly* the same as the same runs three weeks ago. Maybe all isn’t lost after all.

It’s also time to look back at 2008. I entered the year with only one running goal in mind - running a marathon. I managed to do that in June. The rest of the year was icing on the cake!

Well, I finally got out for a short run. It felt, well, weird. I felt slow. I felt out of breath. But the significance in what I didn’t feel - pain! On the one hand I am pretty excited. On the other I am discouraged. I felt like I had just started making some big strides (no pun intended) in my running - knocking over two minutes off my 10K PR, running more efficiently, going longer each week, etc. Yesterday I felt as though I was laboring to get my four miles done.

With the New Year around the corner, I took time this past weekend to reflect back on 2008 and evaluate my achievements in regards to my fitness goals.

My journey started on 12/31/2007 at which time I weighed 138.5 lbs and was at 32% body fat. As of this morning my weight is 122.5 lbs and my body fat is down to ~ 23%. More important than my weight loss however is the sense of empowerment I have gained over the past 12-months.

I have learned that actions speak louder than words and by setting specific goals and an action plan around those goals, I was empowered to take control of my body.