post-workout – Ali Goes The Distance

Good morning! We’re officially half way through the week…YES! If you need to freshen up your fitness routine, check out my new workout idea. I wish I had done this combination of cardio post strength day sooner, since it really is a great way to see how well you perform on tired legs (or just a tired total body) while torching extra calories.

Have you ever warmed up with some light cardio or gotten it done first, then hit the weights, and finished with a cool down? Nothing wrong with that! Pretty standard and it works. But if you always do it that way, plateau is likely to set in sooner than later. A plateau is a period of maintenance where there is no decline or progress of fitness. You maintain and that’s it. This can either be seen as good or bad depending on the person and their goals. This can happen to anyone, from the elite to the average joe.

As we improve and progress, we become more fit with a need to be more mindful of new challenges/ways to make us stronger and more fit. For someone who is very fit (think of someone working out six days a week) constantly changing the stimulus pretty often is necessary to reach goals, whatever those are. For someone new to exercise/never exercised before and needs to lose weight, they may see results with this standard routine for a bit. Eventually after keeping up with their exercise routine, they could plateau later and need to adjust. Different timelines and goals for different people!

For those of you not really in a plateau right now (or just are good with where you are now) but just wanna add variety, this is just as good for you too! Especially those of you not really into losing weight, but wanna up your running game and have a race coming up. I tried this concept to switch up my running most of all: Running AFTER strength training! WHAT WHAT! yeah, it’s hard AF. But its great and really gets your body working. Running tired especially after a leg heavy strength day last Thursday was not really on my agenda, but I felt great so I figured why not. Although five miles was not on my list either, I really did enjoy that different kind of push. The first one to two miles were tough, then my legs kinda figured it out. The last mile was definitely tough though *insert fire and explosion emoijis.* I kinda wish I had done this more during my marathon training #MyOneRegret, but know I know for next one! 😉

If running five miles post strength seems to far too soon, stick to one to three miles and keep in tough or just above a conversational pace. See my post on pace runs to add the idea of an intense and short amount of cardio. I took it slower, and still felt I got a challenge out of it. If your legs feel like they’re gonna fall off, you’re doing it right! The point is keeping the cardio for after the weights, so regardless how fast or far you’re going, you can keep it easy or tough and still get benefits from it.

All ya gotta do is tack on the cardio at the end of your strength routine (whatever that is for you) and BOOM you will feel a huge difference! Even if running isn’t your thing, a bike ride, elliptical, walk, etc. works too! Keeping the heart rate going post weights is key!

YOUR TURN:

-Any new workout routines you’ve tried recently?

-What is your preferred form of cardio?

Eggs are a great form of protein and are relatively cheap. They’re also rich in muscle-friendly protein, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and selenium…a good reason to add them to your diet! Eggs go back and forth with being healthy all the time it seems. “Too much cholesterol”, “too much fat”, “only eat the whites”, the list goes on. I always say moderation is key. They also can be cooked several ways and can be seasoned/flavored however you like! My mom has always had hard-boiled eggs handy for snacking, but I, myself, have gone in phases with eggs. Recently, I decided to find a good recipe for cooking eggs while also trying to find the best way to peel them so they look pretty (presentation is key 😉 ) I used some of my mom’s ideas and some of my own, but also went on pinterest looking for tips and recipes and found a couple ideas:

use older eggs for hard-boiling
boil eggs using vinegar/baking soda can help eggs peel easier
hummus and/or lemon pepper seasoning makes for a good addition when taking/leaving out the yolk for a hardy, satisfying snack
use an egg-timer, specifically the Norpro Egg Rite Egg Timer from Amazon

I find that using baking soda has really helped the peeling of my eggs go smoothly! They don’t look like they’ve been massacred, which is one of the main goals, along with cooking them perfectly. Recently, I’ve been using an egg slicer and putting them on toast with a slice of cheese and salt and pepper for easy breakfast. A few weeks ago I made Curry Egg Salad from Runners World which was delicious with raisins and green onions! Really good with a slice of toast too or with a whole grain bagel. I didn’t garnish mine with avocado or cilantro since it was good without, but this recipe is versatile so go for it! Below is the recipe for Curry Egg Salad, as well as how I boil my eggs!

Curry Egg Salad from Runners World

Mix 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons golden raisins, 1 teaspoon Dijon, 2 sliced green onions, 1/2 teaspoon curry, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix 4 chopped, hard-boiled eggs with yogurt. Cut two whole-grain bagels in half. Divide mixture among 2 slices; top each with avocado, cilantro, and remaining bagel.

Perfectly Peel-able Hard-Boiled Eggs

Add 1 tablespoon of baking powder to 4 cups of water and dissolve. Add eggs to pot with egg timer. Turn on burner to high and wait for water to boil. Once water boils, set timer (regular timer) for 15 min and turn down heat from a rolling boil to softer boil. Once 15 min is up and timer shows eggs are boiled, run cool water into the hot water with eggs until the water becomes cool and you can no longer feel the hot water (don’t drain the hot water!). Let eggs sit in cool water for 5 min. Begin peeling and enjoy!