While I guess I understand that people lift weights to stay in shape, I really don’t see why people don’t just run, then do pushups and pull-ups for strength training – but the bulk of their workout should be cardio. You burn more calories in a shorter amount of time and you still get some strength work in. Their response would be something to the effect of how stupid running was, or how they wanted to get big. I would proceed to ask why they wanted to get bigger to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day and they would start talking about girls. Needless to say, it would always come back to protein, what its’ purpose was and how it affected their workout.
Let me say that I have really never followed a diet. In high school cross country, I hurt my back my freshman year so I couldn’t practice. After faking a 15 minute bike ride on the stationary, I would go home and eat 10 Oreo cookies – every day. I’m proud to say I’ve changed a bit since then, because of two reasons: 1. As I get older, I can tell my body reacts differently to what I eat (this is true even if I eat poorly for a weekend) 2. marathon training is a whole different world from running 25 miles per week.
While running upwards of 90 miles per week, my legs would be extremely sore by Wednesday and I just couldn’t do the workouts I wanted do and the mileage I was putting in was not quality. Additionally, by the time I walked up the stairs, I would feel as if my legs were about to fall off. This past spring, I was heavily training for some half marathons and read something about the effect that protein mixed with carbs within 30 minutes of finishing your run could have an extreme effect on recovery. I got my chef’s hat on and hard boiled every egg I could find in a 6 mile radius. It took about 10 days of consistent eating (2 eggs and bread), but before I knew it, my body was recovering faster than it ever had before. About 3 weeks ago, I decided to step my game up a bit and indulge in some pro max bars which has about 3 times the amount of protein that 2 eggs do – they taste decent too. I can’t stress the impact that this has had on my training. My legs are still a bit tired by the end of the week, but I’m able to do faster work outs more often, and increase my mileage without feeling like hulk Hogan took a sledge hammer to my quads.
It may be a bit awkward at first, but don’t be shy – get to a GNC today!
Scott Wandzilak
