Originally Posted by
Eileen G
The thing is, if you do the same thing all the time, your body get used to it.
This advice is golden.
Different people's bodies respond differently. Some can do the same thing over and over and maintain. Some cant.
My wife is a "runner"... she likes it, enjoys it, misses it when she cannot run. I run because I need to. Hate it, never have liked it, would gladly give it up.
Well, as you age your metabolism takes some hits. Its just the truth. And, while she wasn't really overweight, shed put on some lbs that she wanted to shed. She tried running it off. It didn't work.
What did work was cross training.
Instead of running all the time, she mixed in different workouts. Now, at her upper 30's, she has a body that puts most ten years younger than her to shame.
She runs twice a week. Does pilates twice a week (this is what made a change in her body). And does a video like billy blanks tae bo once a week, sometimes more. Different muscles hit from different angles.
Honestly, for strengthening and tightening your core (abs, back, rear) I'm very impressed with pilates. I use some pilates moves regularly in a workout, and its impressive. I can suggest a few dvds if you are interested.
Since I don't consider myself a runner at heart, I can't suggest or refute any suggestions about intervals, other than it makes sense to me. The more you can keep your body guessing, the better.
A couple of years back I was tired of my trail routine, so I shortened the running in half and then did some "rock hopping"... across large stones that were a part of a dam at a large lake that I liked to go to. It was awesome. That change in workout really helped hit muscles from different angles and taxed me in a different way.
Let us know what you decide to try and how its going.