Sunday is a perfect day for a stretch challenge. You’ve worked hard all week–now it’s time to reap the benefits of exercise with some STRETCH recovery.

Do your light workout today–whatever that may be. Then go through this yoga stretch routine and see if it helps you refocus your mind and body (to recovery), so it’s primed and ready for Monday.

Want to beat the masses at your next 5k, 10k or half? If you are a competitive runner, you know you get your edge from making incremental improvements in your training. TEMPO RUNS are the solution to a lot of training plateaus because they teach the body how to efficiently metabolize oxygen.

Try this TEMPO RUN and see where you stand:

1. WARM UP for 1 MILE with a JOG pace (40-50% max speed)

2. SPRINT 1 MIN  (90% of your max speed)

3. RACE PACE 2 MIN (60-70% max speed)

4. Alternate, 1 MIN SPRINT, 2 MIN RACE PACE for 20 min

5. COOL DOWN with a 1 MILE JOG pace

Tempo running improves a crucial physiological variable for running success: our metabolic fitness. Most runners have trained their cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to the muscles…but they haven’t trained their bodies to use that oxygen once it arrives. Tempo runs do just that by teaching the body to use oxygen for metabolism more efficiently.

How? By increasing your lactate threshold (LT), or the point at which the body fatigues at a certain pace. During tempo runs, lactate and hydrogen ions—by-products of metabolism—are released into the muscles. The ions make the muscles acidic, eventually leading to fatigue. The better trained you become, the higher you push your “threshold,” meaning your muscles become better at using these byproducts. The result is less-acidic muscles (that is, muscles that haven’t reached their new “threshold”), so they keep on contracting, letting you run farther and faster.

Grrrrr. Getting frustrated my abs are no better. And I am 4 days in. Maybe I will have to drag this puppy out to 7 days instead of 5. Boo.

Now a few of you (okay, maybe all of you) will look at the thumbnail STANDING HALF SPLITS image and say to yourself, “Shayna must be on drugs if she thinks I can do that.” While I don’t expect you to fully extend your leg to the sky (like the crazy lady in the picture), you can certainly begin with a HALF MOON POSE.

Try working with a stability ball. Place one or both hands on ball and slowly lift leg up, while bringing upper body down towards ball. When you have your weight and balance figured out, start rotating your outer hip high towards the ceiling for HALF MOON. If you are ready to move on to standing half splits and have the flexibility in your hamstrings, SLOWLY rotate your hip back down towards the floor to square your hip off. Then as you engage your hamstring on the up leg, pull your abdominal wall in and slowly bring your upper body down. This is the full STANDING HALF SPLITS.

Not seeing any huge difference before and after exercise today, but I cannot wait to post Monday’s (after beer, burgers) image next to Friday’s!

-Shay

Can working out daily make a visual difference? CorefitChicago presents the CORE check: A series this week of before and after exercise shots of (what else?) my abs. Watch my abs get more sculpted all week, one workout at a time, proving you can make daily changes to your body.

Alright, let’s face it, I know you guys are all a sucker for a pretty face. And while this intro picture might be a clever ruse to draw you in to checking out this POWER UP workout challenge, I’m willing to bet you either want to look like this guy, or be with this guy. To do either, you have to have a body to match. Try CoreFit Challenge #14 to power up through plyometrics, and full body core work. If you want to really push yourself, add a 50m sprint in between each exercise without resting.

Want a BUTT so tight you can bounce a quarter off it? Haha, no, you don’t have to do lunges all day long. You can do something that blasts your booty, core (for HOT ABS too, why not), arms and gets your heart rate going (CARDIO). Wake up the booty for some Monday morning action!

CoreFitChicago’s 30 Day Challenge #14 is Donkey Kicking: Do as many as you can for 1 minute. How high and fast can you kick your legs up?!?

Can working out daily make a visual difference? CorefitChicago presents the CORE check: A series this week of before and after exercise shots of (what else?) my abs. Watch my abs get more sculpted all week, one workout at a time, proving you can make daily changes to your body.

Just to prove to you that working out does make daily changes to your body, I will post Monday’s before and Friday’s after shot as the grand finale.

Game on!

-Shayna