For her second week of training for the Tokyo Marathon, Zalina Mohd Som worked out without running, but it was harder than she thought
WEEK One was tough and I figured the following would be better. I started off on the same exercise routine the first day of the second week: 5km loop on treadmill, 2km on elliptical machine and 10km on the cycle. I thought the first week’s arduous sessions would at least have melted off some fat and pushed up my fitness level.
My first day in Week Two shaved 60 seconds off the previous week’s 45 minutes for the 5km. On top of that, I successfully completed 1km without stopping. I considered that a big achievement because before this, it had been a struggle to even slow jog at 7km per hour for three minutes.
But Mohd Hoesni Rahmat, my trainer, did not share my elation. I guess he didn’t like seeing me contented about my new fitness level. It didn’t take him long to plan something new for me. He decided to change the treadmill, elliptical machine and cycling routine which he had promised would run for two weeks. “Only in Week Three we’ll start on strength training,” he had said in Week One.
SPEEDING UP
Hoesni’s Week Two programme now required me to do two sessions of upper body strength training to be alternated with an hour on the elliptical machine.
The elliptical machine is the second machine I hate (the first is the stationary bike). Although the elliptical machine looks friendlier and tamer than the treadmill, I find it hard to take the resistance it levies on my legs and arms.
With total disregard for my preferences, he put me on level 5 at a speed of 110 RPM (revolutions per minute) throughout the hour. In as fast as two minutes I could already feel my thigh muscles burning and hardening. The thing with this machine is that there’s no way for me to slow down for a breather. If I go lower than 60 RPM, the machine stops! But Hoesni had insisted that the machine would be a good introduction for my lower body workout he had planned for Week Three.
He says the elliptical machine is a good choice for low-impact exercises, especially for those with extra weight and joint problems like me (Me? Extra weight?). All right, losing a few kilos would make me run faster.
Though the calories burnt at the end of this new regime weren’t as many as during Week One, Hoesni assured me that the elliptical machine burnt more calories than was shown on its display panel.
PRESS AND CURL
To balance it all up, I had two sessions of upper body workouts. For the first one, he had me walk on the treadmill at 5kmph with a 5lb (2.3 kilos) dumbbell in each hand. I had to do various styles of weight lifting — overhead press, shoulder press, upper raise, front raise, hammer curls and all other sorts of exercises that were all quite new to me.
The exercises were changed every alternate minute and every 10 minutes, Hoesni allowed me to put down the dumbbells to drink. Though it didn’t raise my heart rate to the desired 70 per cent of maximum heart rate, the exercises had the same effect on my upper arms that I felt on my thighs.
“You will feel the pain for three days, and as long as you do, your body is burning calories, even while you’re sleeping,” he told me.
KEEP ON BURNING
Later, I learnt that since muscles use a lot of energy to sustain themselves, our body burns another 120 calories each day for every 1.4kg of muscles we build. Hmm... nice! I love the idea of the calories burning off without having to do anything.
“But, I don’t run with my hands,” I argued.
“A heavy upper body will slow you down and give impact on your lower body, while a lean, muscular upper body increases metabolism and muscle endurance,” he explained.
Ahh ... no wonder my arms and shoulders were starting to bother me as I passed the 25km mark during my first full marathon last year. Since I didn’t have a professional trainer then, my only exercise was the treadmill, almost five times a week for six months.
For the second session, I had a different set of strength training using the weight-lifting machines. There were only three types of exercises — lat pull down, flat bench press and low row - but Hoesni put me through sets of different repetitions and weights.
Even as I write this, my upper body, especially my shoulders and triceps, remain sore. But I like this pain. This pain is good!
I can’t wait for the lower-body workout and knowing Hoesni, I’m pretty sure it won’t be any kinder.
The writer is on an intensive eight-week training programme as she prepares for this year’s Tokyo Marathon on Feb 26. Follow her training every Tuesday.
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