So…. you need fuel to burn fuel!  If you start off your workout with nothing in your system you will feel like you’re running on empty. You won’t be able to push very hard for very long.  What you choose to fuel with can make you feel great or like you’re going to vomit, so choose wisely.  Here are some tips:

EARLY MORNING WORKOUTS:  If you’re hopping out of bed to workout at the crack of dawn (GOOD FOR YOU!) you need a little something in your stomach.  This will also provide you with enough sugar that you’ll be able to WORK during your workout, rather than think about your gnawing hunger.  When you get out of bed in the morning your body is HUNGRY from not eating for many hours.  You will stimulate your metabolism and burn more calories during your workout if you feed yourself first.  Here are some options depending on how long you have before your workout:

If you have less than 30 minutes to digest: a half of a banana (my personal fave!), a small glass of juice, dry toast.

If you have 30-60 minutes to digest: toast and peanut butter, yogurt, full piece of fruit.

NOTE: You do not want much protein in the hour before a workout.  It is too slow to digest and will likely make you feel like you’re going toss your cookies.  This will definitely interfere with your workout!

LUNCHTIME WORKOUTS:  Make sure to have a mid-morning snack if you’re going to workout at lunch.  If you hit your noon workout with nothing in your system since breakfast 4 or more hours prior, you’re not going to stimulate your metabolism the same way.  You might not even make it to your workout, because lunch will be screaming your name so loud, you’ll decide that’s more important.  Here are some mid-morning snack ideas:

1-2 hours before your workout:  a piece of fruit and 1/4 cup nuts, yogurt, string cheese and a few crackers, a snack bar (no more than 200 calories or so)

AFTER WORK WORKOUT:  Follow the same guidelines as the lunch workout.  Give yourself a snack an hour or two before your workout if it’s been 4 or more hours since you had lunch.  You body will love your workout SO much more! 

AFTER DINNER WORKOUT:  This can be a hard one.  Keep your dinner LIGHT!  If you eat a big dinner at 6, you’re not very likely to get in a workout at 8.  But if you try to wait until after an 8 pm workout to eat dinner, you’re likely going to be too hungry, causing your workout to suffer or not occur.  So try to divide your dinner into two medium snacks.  Have one a couple hours before your workout and the other immediately after the workout while your body is still burning lots of calories.  You don’t want to wait too long and then eat right before bed!  Also, make the post workout meal higher in protein, so you’re not heading to bed with a belly full of carbs. 

If I didn’t hit on your pre-workout food needs here, shoot me an email and we can do some brainstorming!  Happy pre-workout snacking!

THERE’S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!  Let’s get you started now.  Today.  Shorts and bathing suits are just around the corner.  How many summers have you spent lamenting the fact that you didn’t get your workout on all winter and then you had to join pasty, white Seattlites in shorts that are a little snug and a bathing suit that will only exist under a sundress.  If you start making small changes in exercise and diet now, you’ll be feeling 100% better by summer.  It’s so much better to take small steps over the course of a few months than trying to take a giant, impossible leap over the course of a week or two.  We’ve all tried to workout REALLY hard and eat REALLY well the week before a tropical vacation, right?!  Really – what does a week do for you- not much!  Again, THERE’S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!

I am here to help.  I can’t make Seattle less pasty and white, but I CAN make Seattle a little leaner, a little stronger, a little tighter and more toned.

1.  Warm Up: Light run or brisk walk for 5 minutes to get your blood flowing.  This will prevent your legs from immediately turning to lead when you hit the stairs.

2. Run stairs 5 minutes.  On this first round, take the first couple minutes easy to let yourself warm into it.

2. PUSHUPS at the top of the stairs x 15.  Start on your toes, drop to your knees if you can’t get to 15 on your toes.

4. WALKING LUNGES at the top of the stairs x 20.  Feel free to lunge down the street.  Passersby will think you’re tough.

5. Find a safe place to lie down near the top of the stairs.  Lie down for 1 minutes of CRUNCHES.  Time this – 1 minutes is longer than you think! 

3.  Hit the stairs for 5 minutes.  You’re all warmed up now – PICK IT UP!

4. Repeat PUSHUPS x 15/LUNGES x 20/CRUNCHES x :60

6.  Back to the stairs for 5 minutes – FASTER - FEEL THE BURN!

7. Repeat PUSHUPS x 15/LUNGES x 20/CRUNCHES x :60

8. Final hurrah – stairs for 5 minutes!

9. Cooldown – light jog or walk for 5 minutes.

This should take you under 40 minutes but it will feel WAY faster than running Greenlake or sweating it out on the elliptical at the gym. 

WARNING: Music is a MUST when running stairs. Don’t forget your headphones and feel free to sing out loud.  People will be jealous that you love your workout so much!

STAIRS IN SEATTLE:

Check out this article that gives great descriptions of different stairs in Seattle – including Capital Hill, Queen Anne, West Seattle: http://www.seattleweekly.com/1999-05-26/news/stairmaster.php

And don’t forget my favorite stairs in Seattle: Golden Gardens in Ballard.  You can find your Sync Fitness trainer on these stairs year ’round.  You can park at the top at Cafe Fiorre at the end of 85th.  This allows you to start going down the stairs, which is a nice little warm up.  You can stick to one section of stairs and do repeats or you can haul yourself all the way down to the water and back to the top over and over again!!