Friday Favorites- Spin Songs, Incline Training and More

Well, hmm……. riding a school bus for a really long time is not necessarily my favorite, but having a ginormous travel coffee mug for the trip sure is.

No surprise that a Vega Sport protein bar saved the afternoon yet once again.

I just got a magnificent shipment of some Vega goodies complete with a couple new flavors of the Vega One. I can’t wait to dig into everything.

I taught a spin class tonight at the gym. This was my third week back at it and it’s finally getting back into the groove thank goodness.

I added a few new songs to my playlist that rock.

The gym was being remodeled and I couldn’t find the stairmill machines afterwards so I got in the Free Motion incline trainer for 20 minutes.

I walked at 21.5 % incline at 3.0-3.5 MPH while holding on.

It was a darn good workout.

I went to a training awhile ago that talked about the benefits of incline training on a treadmill. We were told the magic combination was 2 MPH at a 21% incline for fat burning purposes.

I found this Free Motion article right now and am very intrigued at the findings about the fat utilization and muscle activity. If I can’t run I can sure as heck up the incline like I did tonight and you can too.

I’m really intrigued by all this incline business. I’ll share so you can be intrigued too.

Examining Physiological Changes during Treadmill Exercise

Recent research conducted under the direction of Dr. Matthew Rhea, Director of Human Movement at A.T. Still University, demonstrates the changes that occur when an individual exercises at different speeds and inclines on the Incline Trainer. This research used exercise science tools to measure changes in heart rate, oxygen consumption, caloric expenditure, and muscle activation under different exercise conditions. Among a group of 30 year old adults, walking at 3 mph with 12% incline resulted in the same heart rate at running at 6 mph on flat surface. The slower speed can be beneficial to reduce risk of injury during treadmill exercise while still obtaining the needed cardiovascular benefits.
EMG measures, which identify the amount of muscle tissue activation, demonstrated important changes with the use of incline as well. At 0% incline, only about 20% of muscle tissue was activated in the legs. As incline was increased, muscle activity in the calf, hamstring, and gluteus increased. At inclines above 15%, muscle tissue activation in the legs approached and exceeded 75% of maximal isometric contraction.
Perhaps the most significant finding of this research was the change in fat utilization at slow speeds and high inclines. With increased muscle activation at higher speeds and inclines, calorie expenditure increases. If only speed is used to increased energy demand, the body must use more and more carbohydrates as fuel because fat utilization takes too long.
However, with the use of incline to increase demand while keeping the speed at 2-3 mph, physiological measures and calculations such as oxygen consumption and respiratory exchange ration demonstrated that fat utilization increases dramatically. It was hypothesized that the slower speeds allowed the processes involved in fat utilization to keep up with the
energy demand. At 2 mph and 16% incline, over 6 calories per minute from fat were utilized. This was compared to less than 2 calories per minute from fat used at 6 mph and 0% incline.
These data demonstrate the increased physiological demands while walking or running at an incline and present several useful applications of incline training. Individuals seeking increases in muscular fitness, cardiovascular fitness, and weight loss can effectively use incline to enhance the effectiveness of treadmill training. The most apparent benefits in these areas occur at inclines above 10%. The FreeMotion Incline Trainer offers a unique treadmill experience with incline and speed ranges exceeding those of traditional treadmills.

(source)

It was pretty much a marathon day so I just kept going for it and made a not so quick stop at Costco to shut the place down. I was mainly going there for bread and cat littler, but I discovered this gem.

Um, Menage a Trois Midnight? How did I not know this was out there? Sure it was a good $.50 more than our favorite regular Menage a Trois blend, but you better believe I bought two bottles just because I’m already assuming it’s going to be a favorite.

I did get the cat litter too, but obviously the bag split while I was loading it into the car and litter started spilling everywhere over the back of the car.

Lovely.

There was no way I was vacuuming all that up at 9:00 pm so I’m sure my car will smell all nice and fresh in the morning. It’s okay to be jealous. Maybe it will be time for a #swaggerwagon sooner than we planned. Kidding. (Seriously though I dream of having a Toyota Sienna. It’s my favorite.

This commercial for it by the way is pure awesomeness.

Here are a couple of other things I just feel like I have to pass along.

- I still haven’t done a formal review of the Mizuno Wave Inspire 11 shoes (which I love by the way), but The Mizuno Shoe Guy wrote up a really great article about the specific changes and improvements on the 11s here:

Mizuno Wave Inspire 11: A Return to Basics

Just really hope I can be running in those babies again sometime soon.

- Elissa shared this Runner’s World article by Lauren Fleshman that I just had to pass along. Thank you Elissa by the way.

- Not sure if you’re a twitter person, but there’s a Tweet Chat With Meb January 26th.

- If you’re local, my favorite Kennedy’s Karne is having an awesome Superbowl Grill Madness event next weekend on Saturday 1/31 and Sunday 2/1.

It’s going down on my birthday so I’m thinking we have to go celebrate with some grub.

- My friend Pavement Runner has a super cool RUN ALL DAY Valentine’s deal going on. His shirts are the best!

-The Pro Compression Sock of the Month is this one.

I’m really liking them along with the new black and red PC runner socks that were spotted at the expo last weekend.

You can use code SM14 or code JAN for 40% off and FREE shipping on any order over $25.

My beloved Action Wipes were out of commission for a bit, but I’m freakishly excited that they are going to be back in stock in February! CAN’T WAIT!

This was one of my new spin songs I listed above, but something about it just really touched me. I used it tonight for a hill climb in class, but

this video is freaking awesome. Seriously, it’s so awesome you need to watch it right this second.

This is a MUST watch!

With that friends, I’m tuning out for a couple days.

It’s time to take a little rest from everything except family time and big dreams of course. Fingers crossed it’ll work wonders.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Keep dreaming and believing. Follow your heart, be thankful for what you can do and for all of life’s situations it hands you because everything happens for a reason and for goodness sake keep making wishes on 11:11 and dandelions.


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