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.
Read More at AceFitness.org
- 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.
Read More at MSN
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