What I Learned this Week

This was a good week of workouts and I even got to shovel snow a couple of time too. I am starting to tire of going into the gym, mainly I just want to be outside. Me and 99% of the people at Harbor I think would really like to be working out outdoors. I am headed to Phoenix this week on business but while I am there I intend to run outside for at least a few miles and maybe even take in a Brewer game in Scottsdale:-)

So what did I learn? Two things actually, first smile what every you are doing if it's hard instead of the grimmis or scrunched face, try smiling. This really works and it makes the workout go easier and faster! The muscles in your face don't hurt when you smile and the class instructor is really suspecious about your smile, their dying on a hard workout and you are smiling, what's up with that. Actually during cycling I like to try and whistle... a little joke between me and Kevin. (Can't be workin hard if you're whistling.)

The next thing I learned there is no one that can help motivate you except that person you see in the mirror every morning. On Friday I was looking for someone to go out for a beer after work and there were no takers. So I ended up doing Bootcamp with Jesse instead. I really felt good when it was done. Like I said the motivation to workout indoors has been tough recently. I think the key is just to work through those voices between your ears. The reward is that it will be easier to look at that person in the mirror.

The Week in Review

I had such great intentions. First I got zapped by a cold last Saturday by Monday night I thought I felt well enough to cycle. Great idea but I was wrong... by the end of the ride Monday I was completly out of gas. So I went home and collapsed in bed. The rest of the week has been a blur I got a few workouts in but I am thinking the Saturday workout maybe brutal.

I spent a lot of time this week reading the book 'Born to Run'. Absolutly a great read, that talked about how the best endurance runners in the world today run barefoot or with a very thin soled shoe. The theory is that by running barefoot you strengthen the muscles in the foot and infact strengthen the arch and strech the foot more. I have started looking at the Vibram five finger shoes. http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ I am thinking that by possibly doing some training with these shoes that when I am out on longer runs my feet will be better able take the pounding.

Finally Friday

What a week work has been absolutely crazy. I have managed to get some good training in however. Monday I got a couple of hours of biking in including a workout that Kevin called ‘Spent’ while I was trying to decide whether or not to do a third hour of biking, I got the bright idea to turn the workout into a brick and went to run on the treadmill for a half hour. That was actually very nice. We are now at base 2 for our bike rides which means training in HR zones 3 and 4 and also improving our muscular endurance.

My big discovery for the week was doing the Sculpt class on Tuesday night with my friend Laurie. It uses heavier weights and resistance to improve your tone. I was doing well right to the point where we started the abs portion of the workout. Despite all the work I have put in as part of my strength conditioning to strengthen my abs I found my abs strength to be deficient in this class. Laurie also pointed out that I was moving too fast and I was letting momentum carry the weight. Well I still had a good workout.

Wednesday I got a long swim in but I was slow turning just over a 2 minute hundred. The common theme in my swimming is that I don’t let myself glide enough therefore working way too hard at it. Anyway I finished the week with the Flow class on Thursday morning (Jennifer is absolutely the best instructor). If you need a good stretch and exercise dessert this is the class for you. Thursday night was two more hours of biking with Kevin along with another round of ‘Spent’. Legs were really shot after that. Friday finishes with another swim.

Over all a good week of training, this has become my way of life. I have started to also focus on nutrition coming to realize that working in concert can make training way more fun. However I am sure that nutrition is as much work as the physical aspect of training.

The Gynoid and Android

Ok the $64 question is what Gynoid is and what is the Android. If you stop and think about it clinically it makes sense, then it’s just icky after that. For me my trunk, android and gynoid are the areas where the soft tissue (aka fat) still resides. My overall body fat has been reduced dramatically from what likely was in the mid 60 percent range a year ago down to about 30 percent. This information is coutersy of the result of the DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) scan I had done a week or so ago. These are generally done for people who are subject to osteoporosis. Fortunately it turns out my bones are very dense and I am not in any danger of osteoporosis in the near future. DEXA scans are also very good for measuring body composition including muscle mass and soft tissue mass. They real value for me will be to see the improvement in three months when I have it done again. Hopefully I will see the soft tissue mass go down and the muscle mass increase as training continues. The doc that did the test is a good friend and fishing buddy and he helped me learn a lot about my body composition. Neil also showed me this web site and I would be remiss if I did not point out, it should scare the hell out of all of us, and it’s from the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State .

So I have been looking over the data and trying to come up with a course of action. Right now the plan is to focus on nutrition based in part on the plan offered in the book I have been reading Fit Body Fit Soul, by Mark Allen. I am also going to work with Kevin at Harbor to change my strength conditioning to focus on the mid section. There is no way for me to control where the fat is reduce on my body but I can increase the muscle mass in the trunk, gynoid and android areas. I think I should see significant progress in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

BTW: the Gynoid as you might expect is the pelvic area and the Android would be the rear or butt. So now you know:-)
Cheers

Ibuprofen Cures Hurts

Unfortunately it has been sometime since I last wrote. Good news is that my training has been going better as I got just over ten hours in last week before going ice fishing this past weekend. One of the guys I went fishing with did both IM Wisconsin and Kona last year so we had several discussions about training. Justin was also training to do the Birkie coming up soon. Since it was a guy weekend we all worked hard at strength training by curling with the help of Leinenkugel’s, mental toughness playing euchre, and getting significant rest in between. Oh yea we fished too.

One of the nice gems I got from Justin was to take ibuprofen either before or immediately after hard training. Yesterday I did three hours of cycling in addition to a half hour of running. As you might imagine my legs were cooked by last night, I took three ibuprofen and to my amazement I was pain free this morning. Very cool! We started base two training yesterday which means training in zones 3 and 4 form most of the ride. I handled this well for the first two rides but on the last ride my legs pretty much gave out and started cramping a little. I am changing my training a little this week by adding more swimming and spending more time working my upper body focusing on shoulders and abs.

I will be writing about this soon but I am also beginning to focus more on nutrition again. While I think that I am doing well, I believe that there is room for improvement. Last week I did a DXA scan (another discussion topic soon) I learned a lot about the composition of my body and where I need to make improvements my intention is to focus more on nutrition and strength training to address these areas.

More soon… stay tuned.