You’re in luck! You are about to be one of those people that walks around the gym with a sheet of paper and a purpose. Or at least have some idea what to do when you’re creating a workout to do in your own home.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon GainFitness.com. This tool allows you to select your available equipment, workout time, and area of . . . → Read More: Gain Fitness: Build your own workout]]>

Ever see someone in the gym and wonder ‘What the heck are they doing?’ or ‘How did they come up with THAT’ or ‘I wish I knew some awesome exercises like that. All I do are crunches.’

You’re in luck! You are about to be one of those people that walks around the gym with a sheet of paper and a purpose. Or at least have some idea what to do when you’re creating a workout to do in your own home.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon GainFitness.com. This tool allows you to select your available equipment, workout time, and area of focus and it creates a customized workout complete with instructional videos. There is also an iPhone and iPad app to help you create workouts.

First, enter how long you will be working out for, what your goal is, and what your area of focus is. You can select some additional options such as gender and intensity, and then select which equipment you have available.

Once you have your options chosen, click Build Workout and the program will give you a list of exercises to target your focus area, or an overall body workout if that’s what you wished for. If you don’t like the exercise you were given, you can click the refresh button to get another exercise that targets the same body part.

If you don’t have any equipment at all, the program will be built with that in mind. Below is one example of an exercise you could do with your own body weight in your own home. It comes with a video explanation as well.

What I really like about GAIN is that you can export your workout right to your Google calendar or email it to yourself, as well as printing, saving, or sharing it. The site seems to be still ‘in the making’, but there are some bonus features you can unlock that will allow you to get a program that provides an A, B, and C day workout you can put right into your calendar, depending on how many days a week you’d like to work out. I’ve found GAIN to be a great spark just for perusing different exercises, and it has given me knowledge and inspiration to create my own workouts!

Would you use a tool like GAIN Fitness to create your own workout plan?

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In August of 2010 I started the Couch to 5K program, a running plan aimed at getting a non-runner to be able to run 3 miles (5K) over the course of nine weeks. The program demands three running sessions each week, each session taking . . . → Read More: Ask a Couch to 5K Graduate]]>

Fit Milwaukee welcomes guest author Jenn Collins, a reformed non-runner who also dabbles in weightlifting and biking.  As a “graduate” of the Couch to 5K program she has become a race fanatic and is currently training for her first half marathon.  She regularly blogs at Monkey Butt Junction.  Twitter: @MBJunction

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In August of 2010 I started the Couch to 5K program, a running plan aimed at getting a non-runner to be able to run 3 miles (5K) over the course of nine weeks. The program demands three running sessions each week, each session taking about 30-40 minutes.

As a Couch to 5K “graduate,” I get a lot of questions about the program, particularly from those who are thinking about trying it, but hesitant. I can’t say enough good things about this program: it quite literally changed my life. If you are on the fence about starting or wondering what it entails, I hope that this will answer some questions and give you that little “nudge” to get started.

Where do I start? The Cool Runnings Couch to 5K program website gives a wonderful overview of the program along with a nice chart of each week of the program.

What do I need to begin? The beauty of running is that it is a very simple sport: you need a pair of shoes (I realize that’s debatable, but let’s stick to running with shoes for now) and a little time. Everything else – the fun running clothes, the gadgets that measure your speed and pace, the fueling choices, the water bottles – those are all optional. If you have a comfortable pair of tennis shoes, don’t let the lack of any other equipment stop you. I worked through the whole C25K program and ran my first race in a pair of Hello Kitty sneakers from Hot Topic – certainly not the ideal athletic shoe, but they did the job just fine.

Is there an app for that? Couch to 5K requires timed intervals of running and intervals of walking: for example, week one, day one has you run for 60 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, and repeat again and again for twenty minutes. While you can do this with a watch, it is so much easier to have an app that announces the intervals for you. I used the C25K app and I highly recommend it. It not only indicates when you should switch intervals, it also keeps a log of your progress. The app is $2.99 and worth every penny.

If you don’t have a smart phone, there is a podcast that can help you out. Along with some music, the podcast recites the intervals for each session. A good option if you can’t use the app.

I don’t feel good about my run today, and I couldn’t finish what the program required. Is it okay to redo a day? Absolutely. I had a few days that I had to repeat, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, in doing so you are doing something that is important for every runner of every skill level: you are listening to your body. Even runners who have marathons behind them have their off days where a planned long run turns into something much shorter. The Couch to 5K program is forgiving in its timeline: if you don’t feel good about a day, or you didn’t run as much as the program suggested, take a day off and try again.

Holy cow! Week 5 requires me to run for 20 minutes straight! There’s no way I can do that. I felt that same way. In fact, the main reason I started talking about my C25K endeavor on the blog was because I needed the accountability to push me through the program: I saw that 20 minute run and I thought that would be the end of the program for me. Once I got to the end of the fifth week, though, something surprising happened: I could do it. I could run for 20 minutes without stopping. Sure, I was slow, but I did it. Trust the program. It will get you there. It may take a few tries (and that’s fine!) but it will happen.

My knee/foot/shin/hip hurts. Rest. Running is a high-impact sport, and sometimes your body needs a break. Running on pain can cause injury, and injuries can be serious. The program will be ready for you when you are ready to start again. If you are worried about losing the fitness progress you’ve made, try doing something else active but less stressful on the injured part. In July when I hurt my knee horseback riding, I stopped running for a week and used the eliptical machine instead. I still got a good workout but I did so without aggravating an injury. I was able to jump back into my running, albeit slowly, the following week.

Should I register for a 5K race now? Yes, yes, yes! There’s nothing like a race to keep you motivated throughout your training. Choose a race that’s scheduled for a few weeks after you are scheduled to complete the program just in case you have to repeat a few days. And, about that little voice in the back of your head asking “what if I’m the slowest one there? What if I finish last, or can’t finish at all?” I had that voice too. We all do, beginners like you and I and even the professionals. And sometimes even the people who are runners through-and-through don’t finish a race. Don’t let the thought scare you. Pick a 5K race, sign up, and go there with the intention of enjoying it, no matter the outcome. The excitement of race day is hard to describe but so great to experience.

What’s nice about the 5K is that it is sort of the “everyman’s race.” You’ll see people of all ages and abilities. At my first 5K I saw fit athletes looking to run five minute miles. I saw older couples walking the race hand-in-hand. I saw moms with their children. I saw all body types. And everyone gave it their best. You will fit in just fine.

Plus, it is fun to tell people you are training for a race.

When does it get easy? Or, as a very smart woman worded it: When will the burning in my lungs stop? I’m still waiting for it to get easy. I’m still not fast, I still can’t run 10 miles, it’s still hard. But, I’m faster than I was a year ago. I can run 8.5 miles. And I look forward to the challenges of every run. There are few exercises out there that work your body as hard as running, few activities that offer the camaraderie that the running community shares, and few endeavors that leave you feeling so worn out and so renewed all at once. Running isn’t easy, it may never become easy, but it is worth it.

Any other advice? Sign up for a website like Dailymile. Dailymile.com is a site that allows you to track your mileage, your times and your routes, and it is set up in a Facebook-like layout so that you can “friend” others, participate in challenges and comment on other peoples’ workouts. I love the encouragement of seeing a new comment on one of my workouts on Dailymile, and I enjoy going back to my old entries to see how much farther and faster I run now. Progress in speed and endurance happens over time, and unless you are tracking your progress it may be hard to see it happen. Dailymile has you covered on that, and so I totally recommend it.

Readers: Is there anything else you’d like to know about Couch to 5K? What’s stopping you from giving it a try? Are you in the middle of the program now? How’s it going? Are you a graduate? How do you feel about Couch to 5K?

Have you ever wanted let your friends or family know how you are doing . . . → Read More: Mobile App Review iMapMyRun (Free Version) By MapMyFitness]]>

Kheenan has another app review for us!

Have you ever wanted let your friends or family know how you are doing in a

If you enjoy Yoga like I do and want to practice poses you either learn in class or from watching Yoga DVD’s than this app is a good way to . . . → Read More: Mobile App Review: 101 Yoga Poses (Free Version) by Pocket Cocktails Inc.]]>

Kheenan is back with another mobile app review:

If you enjoy Yoga like I do and want to practice poses you either learn in class or from watching Yoga DVD’s than this app is a good way to do it.

If you’ve never heard of the Couch to 5K running program, check out this link for the program description. In a nutshell, it is a run/walk interval training program designed to take a person from a couch potato to being able to run for 30 minutes straight in roughly 9 weeks. I say “roughly 9 weeks” because you are encouraged to repeat a week if either you were unable to complete it or don’t think you’re ready to progress to the next week. I can personally vouch for the success of this program, as I . . . → Read More: Mobile App Review – C25K by Alex Stankovic]]>

If you’ve never heard of the Couch to 5K running program, check out this link for the program description. In a nutshell, it is a run/walk interval training program designed to take a person from a couch potato to being able to run for 30 minutes straight in roughly 9 weeks. I say “roughly 9 weeks” because you are encouraged to repeat a week if either you were unable to complete it or don’t think you’re ready to progress to the next week. I can personally vouch for the success of this program, as I have followed it almost every spring for the past 5 years to get myself back into shape after a winter of hibernation. Besides “it’s OK to repeat a week,” the other piece of advice I would give is to think of a run interval as “a slow jog, barely not walking” since most people have a tendency to run too fast when they are starting out.

If you plan to follow the Couch to 5K program, the easiest way to keep track of the run and walk intervals is with the C25K mobile app for iPhone. Here’s how it works:

You listen to your music (or the soon-to-be-released FitMKE podcast) and listen for the interval alerts. The alerts are three bells followed by instructions such as “Warmup,” “Run” or “Walk.” Besides those three, there are additional alerts that can be set up in the Settings. These include “Halfway Point,” “Last Run,” and “Run time left.”

All you have to do is start the program and press “Go,” the program keeps track of the rest (what day you’re on, what interval you’re on, etc). Repeating a workout is easily accomplished as well.

This mobile app doesn’t have any of the fancy GPS mapping that can be found in other offerings, but it does offer Facebook and Twitter integration. The $2.99 price tag might keep some users from buying as well. While I would’ve rathered seen this as a $0.99 app, the time and effort it saves convinced me to buy it.

Overall, this app is a recommended buy. If for no reason but that it eliminates the need to worry about carrying a stopwatch and writing down or memorizing the interval patterns for the day’s workout. However, I can only give it 4 out of 5 stars due to the cost and lack of GPS tracking.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Price: $2.99
Device(s): iPhone and iPod Touch only
Link: http://www.c25kapp.com

Questions or comments about this app? Have another mobile app you’d like to see us review? Let us know in the comments.

Functionality

Lose It is a fitness/weight management app made easy on the iPhone and . . . → Read More: Mobile App Review – Lose It by FitDay]]>

Fit Milwaukee would like to welcome guest writer Kheenan Halvorson who maintains his own blog over at UFF-DA. Kheenan’s first post will kick off a new series of mobile app reviews to appear here every Wednesday.

Functionality

Lose It is a fitness/weight management app made easy on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

As it starts to get colder outside, I find myself spending more time thinking about my fitness goals for next year. This is a challenge to all of you to set (and meet) a few key fitness goals in 2010. Whether you are a couch potato or have already run a marathon or biked a century, you know there are things you wish you could do. The first step in meeting any goal is setting it. . . . → Read More: Fitness Goals: Tools for Success]]>

, Today we welcome guest poster Marty Burian (a.k.a. @mjburian on Twitter) and his advice on how to achieve your fitness goals.

As it starts to get colder outside, I find myself spending more time thinking about my fitness goals for next year. This is a challenge to all of you to set (and meet) a few key fitness goals in 2010. Whether you are a couch potato or have already run a marathon or biked a century, you know there are things you wish you could do. The first step in meeting any goal is setting it. Now, these aren’t New Year’s resolutions (which are often uttered and forgotten in nearly the same breath), but realistic fitness goals that you would like to achieve.

In the past, it was difficult for me to run a mile without stopping (or walking). So, I set that as a goal. As I met that fitness goal, I set another of running in a 5K fun run. After a few of those, I decided to push myself to a 10K… and then 10 miles. One of my goals for 2010 is to run farther than I ever have before. Since my furthest run in the past was 10 miles, things like half or full marathons seem like obvious places to look. You see, “fitness” is a moving target. As you become more fit, you may begin to see how things you thought previously impossible are actually within reach. No matter how fit (or unfit) you are, though, you can set fitness goals.

Here are some resources to help you meet the goals you set (These resources are specific to running and strength training, since those are the choices I’ve made to get more fit. There are many more resources available for these and other forms of exercise, and if you have good ones please share them in the comments so we can all benefit):

For couch potatoes:
Hal Higdon’s 30/30 Plan (http://www.halhigdon.com/beginrunner/plan.htm)
You Can Run a Mile Without Stopping (http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1004)
Couch to 5K (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml)

For established runners:
Run Your Fastest Mile (http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/rw_archives/may_1999.html)
Hal Higdon’s Training Programs for Various Distances (http://www.halhigdon.com/)
Runner’s World Training Calculator (http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/trainingcalculator/0,7169,s6-238-277-279-0-0-0-0-0,00.html)

For strength training:
ACE Fitness Exercise Library (http://www.acefitness.org/exerciselibrary/default.aspx)
100 pushups (http://hundredpushups.com)
200 situps (http://twohundredsitups.com)
200 squats (http://twohundredsquats.com)

Don’t feel like your fitness goals need to include pushing yourself harder than you ever have before. Simply getting a little exercise is better than doing nothing. But, in my opinion, a realistic goal should include a certain amount of required effort and commitment. After all, pushing yourself a little bit is how you will ultimately become more fit. And, who knows — you might just find yourself pushing even harder as your fitness improves.

So, here they are… my fitness goals for 2010 (all things I have never done before):

Running:
* I will run more than 10 miles non-stop by the end of the year (Previous Best: 10 miles)
* I will run one mile in under 7 minutes by the end of the year (Previous Best: 7:09)

Strength:
* I will do 100 pushups in a row by the end of the year (Previous Best: 55)
* I will do at least 3 good-form pullups (not chinups) in a row by the end of the year (Previous Best: 0)

[Here's hoping you don't see me out running and doing pushups and pullups in the snow on December 31, 2010 in order to accomplish these goals]

What are your fitness goals for 2010?

*Photos by SashaW and Rick.