I am done with C25K week 5 Day 2 (see the plan), and I am sure no one is just waiting with anticipation to read this.
But this is, for me, a journal of sorts. You are welcome to read along, but if I ramble, just know it's me, not you!
What I want to know is this:
* Why does my stomach want to remind me of what I had for dinner half-way through each run?
* Why do I have ZERO blisters on my feet, but several between my toes? (TMI, sorry)
So far C25K has been a benefit to my mind, making me feel good about myself and, not to be overlooked, getting off my behind and doing something!
Physically, not so many changes. As for weight-loss, none that I can see. I read about folks dropping 3lbs to 10 or more after they become runners, but not me. I guess my body is hanging onto the flubber as long as it can!
Other changes, well I can run for longer (YEAH!) and my calves have appeared out of nowhere!
But the real change I am hoping for is one you (and I) can't see - upping my HDL and lowering my LDL.
I'll re-take a blood test before the year is up, so we won't know for a while.
In the meantime, maybe I'll have a 5K marathon under my belt by then!
Further Reading:
- In general, for exercise to significantly lower cholesterol levels, a relatively high volume of exercise is recommended (e.g. 1,500 kcal or more per week). In 12 to 16 weeks this volume of exercise can reduce total cholesterol by 10 to 20 percent. Fifteen hundred calories expended during exercise is equivalent to about three to four hours per week for the average unfit person performing moderate intensity walking, swimming, walk-jogging or cycling.
- This volume of weekly exercise is approximately the same volume of physical activity required to lose weight. As a result, fat weight loss tends to be associated with increases in HDL-cholesterol and reductions in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels, especially fat lost around the waist and abdomen.
- A sample program would be to start with walking 20 minutes per day, four days a week. Over six to eight weeks graduate this program to one hour, six to seven days a week of walking over hilly (variable) terrain or walk-jogging over relatively flat ground. An alternative would be to walk 50 to 60 minutes three days a week and take an aerobics class three days a week and perhaps two to three sets of singles tennis on the seventh day.
- But to give HDL levels a good boost above the baseline, exercise must be regular and expend enough energy to burn at least 800 to 1,200 calories per week. Any aerobic exercise—from walking and running to swimming and cycling—counts. Walking at three miles in an hour burns about 300 calories, on average. To meet the threshold then, a person needs to walk around eight to 12 miles a week, or do some other aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes on six or more days per week.
- As far as triglycerides go, exercise can reduce them by around 15 percent to 25 percent. There appears to be a similar threshold of regular exercise required to trigger the effect—expending at least 1,200 calories a week, with up to 2,500 to 3,000 calories a week recommended.
- While exercise may not consistently decrease LDLs, it may improve their quality. Early research suggests that regular aerobic exercise can produce more of the bigger, fluffier variety.
- To see most cholesterol changes, exercise must be at least moderate (a brisk walk or cycle ride where you move at an intensity that feels “somewhat hard” or “hard.”. An exact dose-to-response has not been yet been determined, but a session may need to last long enough to burn around 350 calories at a time, or result in an accumulation of 1,200 to 2,500 calories over a week.