Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

So...

It's about time to switch it up. I have two weeks to plan my new approach. I'm about to sink money into a bike. I think I'll begin the training process for my first sprint-triathlon.

Regarding the weights, can I just find new exercises for the muscle groups? Is that the deal? Just switching from, say, a close-grip bench to the triceps extensions and from squats to lunges and from bent-over dumb bell rows to barbell rows? There are just too many ways to go. I would like to continue with a few exercises. Bench press, for example, and maybe squats, too. Is that okay? Or do I need a six-week break? And can I go back to my current routine after a go through a six-week cycle of something else? Lots of questions, I know.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I_T,
Sure, you can switch up like you described. It's probably a good idea to keep the heavy exercised such as squats and bench press, but maybe scale that back. If you're doing it twice a week now, do it once a week, or three times in two weeks, something like that. Whatever you do, make sure you're doing stuff to strengthen the little stabilizer muscles in your arms, chest, shoulders and legs. They're the mortar that holds up the foundation.

Good job, and keep it up.

Joe

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I took Saturday off (regular day after five in six), then took Sunday off to cook for Mom. On Monday, my allergies finally started kicking me in the arse, sneezing and blowing my nose and just generally feeling like a cat and it fucking overflowing litter box had taken up residence in my sinus cavities. So I took Monday, Tuesday and yesterday off.

Today was my first day back, and I'm beat.

"Fran", 95-pound thrusters, pullups, 21-15-9. I scaled it to 75-pound thrusters and finished the three rounds in 12:07. Slow, slow, slow. As always, the pullups kick my ass.

Not satisfied with that, I did 95-pound thrusters and pullups, 7-7-7 in 7:39. Thursters weren't terrible, but pullups were.

Thirty 30-inch box jumps in 2:08, 21 seconds slower than my PR. First time I've done it since two days after gashing my shin open. Meh.

Knees to elbows (10), pushups (10), five rounds in 4:53. After the first two rounds, it was more like hanging knee raises. And after doing all that shoulder and back work, the pushups were tougher than you (well, I) would think.

My whole body has that slightly quivery (is that even a word?), taxed out feeling. After five days off, it's nice to feel that again.

Joe

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Yo Rocky,

It's fine to mix up the muscle groups every now and then as I find myself needing a change every once in a while. For my chest day a while ago, I did flat, incline and decline benches. When I changed it up recently, I stuck with low reps of the flat bench and decline bench, but went with incline dumbbell flys and such. It's always good to mix it up and it's not bad to keep one comfort-zone exercise.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Cool. As I learn more stuff, I develop more opportunities for mixing it up. I check every week to see if I can find a new exercise. Today, I did straight-leg dumb bell deadlifts with a row thrown before coming back up. I've been a little hesitant about deadlifting, and sure as shit I hurt my back on my first set. I was rolling my back and letting my shoulders drop. I managed to do two sets with much better form. It's the first time I did something serious for my lower back. So I expected soreness. I just hope the muscles loosen a little by morning.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

10k individual time trial yesterday. BRUTAL headwind after the turnaround. The 5k out I averaged 29 mph, the 5k back I averaged only 20.5 mph. The wind killed me. 10k in 17:33 was horrible compared to the 16:36 the week before.

1-mile swim this morning, moderate pace of about 1 minute per 50-meter lap.

Headed north to a big lake tonight for a training ride with the team, then a 52-mile race on Saturday, another training ride Saturday night focusing on the position and technique for a 52-mile team time trial on Sunday.

Should be a nice 150-175 mile weekend.

Extra sunscreen is being packed.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Wow, it's amazing how sore you can get from taking five days off. If I ever forget this is a lifestyle change, taking five days off reminds me in a hurry.

Today
"Donkey Kong": burpees, 45-pound kettleball swings, 24-inch box jumps, 21-15-9. I did the three rounds in 9:20, a PR by 30 seconds. It wasn't the workout of the day, but I felt like doing it. Man, the sweat just pours.

Dips, 50 in 7:53. After yesterday's thrusters, pullups and pushups, I was weak and sore today, so it was a disappointing time. It should have been closer to 6:00, maybe less than that.

Crikey.

Joe

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Change in plans. One of my teammates in the three-man team time trial cancelled on us. So I opted out of that race.

The Saturday race, though, was sweet. After a sprint finish, I took 7th in a 50-man field. Not a bad result for an old man and my best place ever. 52 miles in just over two hours and I never felt like we were pushing the pace until a mile to go. Being patient, though, paid off and I took advantage of an error made by several people at the final turn and I flew past all of them.

I guess it helps to have scouted out the finishing stretch the night before and again 30 minutes before the race started.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Road racing is so unique. Every race is different. Sometimes, the pack is just killing it trying to drop people right and left. Others, it's an 'easy' 26-mph pace for two hours until the jets are turned on.

I'm just happy this one worked out for me. Having only a few rollers and a solid night sleep helped me a ton. I had plenty left in the legs for a sprint. As we got closer to the finish, I was tickled with how fresh I felt even after 50 miles so my strategy of just finishing with the pack turned into a game of how to I get to the front of the pack.

I moved from No. 30 to about No. 20 at the final turn, then 10 people overcooked the turn and I slipped inside them to gun it.

I am a little bummed about missing the TTT, though. I've grown to enjoy TT races and this would have been a nice training ride for the triathlons I'm signed up for as well as the state TT championship in a couple of weeks. Though I'm just a Cat 5, I'd like to shoot for a podium finish at that race and then maybe think about upgrading to Cat 4. I'm qualified now, but I'm in no position to compete against our Cat 4s when I've only barely begun to be respectable among the Cat 5s.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Think about pushing your chest about just a bit ... not to the point where you back arches, but it helps, I find.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

First hike of the spring/summer ...

Here's the view from Eagle Hill: