Making exercise "easier" and carb loading

The following is taken from my weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to by clicking HERE

Sometimes, when I’m running and a good song comes through the headphones, it can distract me from the fact that I’m running.

It’s why I think running a race with headphones is “cheating”. There’s an advantage to it.

Now, adding my playlist of workout songs might not be of help to you when you’re struggling through a workout, but finding ways to keep you distracted might

Exercise can be harder when all we are thinking about is the exercise itself. So, if we can programme the workouts to be thinking about something else, it can help us push a little harder through a session.

Here are some ways you can do that:

EMOMs (Every Minute on the Minute):

An EMOM requires you to do a set number of reps in a minute. Let’s say it’s 10 squats. If that takes 10 seconds, you have 50 seconds to rest before doing them again. Maybe it’s weighted squats, so they take much longer than 10 seconds. Maybe they take 40 seconds. Then, you only have 20 seconds to rest.

An old favourite I used to build up my pull ups last summer, EMOMs are a great way to keep you on track in a workout instead of reaching for the phone and mindlessly scrolling. They also help you work harder on the reps you are doing, as the harder you work, the more rest you get before the next minute starts.

I like using EMOMs to either build up the number of reps I can do in an exercise eg pull ups, and push ups (if you are doing this technique, make sure the first few rounds are EASY, otherwise you will get tired quickly and not be able to maintain the same amount of reps) or for an intense cardio session.

An example of an intense cardio EMOM could be:

Slams x 15
Burpees (or heavy KB swings): x 10
Mountain Climbers x 20 each leg
Squat Jumps x 10

3-5 Rounds

That’s 12 minutes for a good finisher or 20 minutes (after a good warm up) for a quick cardio workout.

Descending Pyraminds

By using EMOMs, you constantly think of your rest and recovery while getting ready for the next exercise instead of just the exercise you are doing. Another way is to set a time goal for finishing the workout.

And a way I like to achieve a time goal is by doing a descending pyramid. You can do this at home to get a good full-body workout. Just pick a cardio, lower body, upper body, and core exercise. Start with the reps high and subtract reps each round.

We did this for our warm-up in last night’s CSF Women’s Fitness sessions. Starting at 16 reps, we worked our way down to 2 reps before moving on to a circuit.

16 Jumping Jacks (Cardio)
16 Reverse Lunges (8 each leg) (Lower Body)
16 Shoulder Taps (8 Each Side) (Upper Body)
16 Sit Ups (Core)

You can easily plug and play different exercises here and make them longer/shorter. The point is you’re constantly working towards a goal instead of thinking just about the reps of one exercise.

You could also keep it much more simple with a designated time circuit. These can be great, but sometimes, you can be clock-watching for the time to end rather than being rewarded for getting the reps in by getting to end quicker like a descending pyramid, or EMOM may bring

ANY GIVEN RUNDAY PODCAST

This week on the Any Given Runday Podcast, we welcome Alanna Dunlea to the show.

Alanna completed the @runrome_themarathon Rome Marathon, her third marathon, on Paddy’s weekend just gone. With more and more big city marathons needing a lottery to get into them, Rome not being one of them, and with Alanna having done Cork and Dublin marathons in the previous 12 months, we thought it would be great to get her perspective on the Rome Marathon and whether it would be worth travelling out for in ‘25

From the expo to the iconic start at the Colosseum, the route, cobblestones, finish (and yes, the medal), and how the city of Rome embraces the marathon, this episode is perfect for those of you considering travelling for your next marathon.

You can listen to this week’s episode on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ulDPh5zaFVRhKlnYjSBc5?si=a66238e92f594012

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/rome-marathon-2024-review-with-alanna-dunlea/id1493778874?i=1000650275608

or wherever you get your podcasts from

You can also follow our podcast page on Instagram: @AnyGivenRundayPodcast

CARB LOADING

I recently completed a running course with the United Sports Endurance Coaching Academy, and there was one stat that was absolutely mind-blowing to me.

It had nothing to do actual running, techniques, training drills, or anything like that (although I did learn a lot)

It had to do with carb loading.

Now, I do carb load before marathon events… or at least I thought I did.

A few days out, I would have more of a carb-heavy dinner, usually a pasta meal. And that extra couple hundred calories of carbs would suffice.

However, for carb loading, I was SEVERELY UNDER EATING.

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), I should eat 8-10 grams of carbohydrates per kg of body weight 1-3 days before an endurance event.

Let's say I weigh 80kg… ok, 82kg…

Fine, 84kg! You know it’s getting harder to lose weight as I age!

And we go with the 10 grams of carbs per kg… so I don’t need my calculator to say that’s 840 grams of carbs 1-3 days out from an event.

Each gram of carbs is 4 kcals.

I might need my calculator here…

That’s 3360 calories consisting of carbs before an event. And here’s me switching out a protein-heavy meal for carbs, thinking I’m doing something!

Well, I have 11 days to see how this plays out as my next event, Hellevation, a backyard ultra, is on Saturday week. So I need to wrap up this newsletter, eat and run a lot more!

If there are any questions you would like me to answer in this newsletter, send me an email at sean@coachseanc.com

Thanks for reading and subscribing to the newsletter!

Seán

#LetsGoGetEmAgain

CoachSeanC.com