TRX Day

[Veronica]

My upper body is fried!

Push ups with hands in the TRX, mountain climbers with feet in the TRX, ab pull ins with feet in the TRX. Pull ups and bicep curls on the TRX.

The non TRX stuff was killer too - curls into an overhead press with the EZ curl bar and then skull crushers with the EZ curl bar.

I wish I didn't have to go to work - writing up high on the white board is going to hurt! :D

Veronica

[indysteel]

The last time I did mountain climbers with the TRX (among other things), I couldn't really walk for a couple of days. :(

[Wahine]

I love my TRX. :D:eek:

[ridebikeme]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your TRX day Veronica! I've been working out with a set now for a little over three months, definitely a great way to get in a good workout in regardless of where people work out!

[Catrin]

I love TRX days, though sometimes my cranky knee gets, well, cranky with it.

[indysteel]

I think my trainer has been anxious to use TRX with me again, after the amount of soreness I suffered after our last workout with it. In all my years of physical activity, I have never had the degree of delayed onset muscle soreness that I often encounter now. I've wondered if my thyroid issues--I know that Graves' Disease can cause muscle fatigue, weakness and soreness--is a contributing factor. I've started to take a supplement recommended for GD that can help with these muscular issues. We'll see if it helps.

[Catrin]

I think my trainer has been anxious to use TRX with me again, after the amount of soreness I suffered after our last workout with it. In all my years of physical activity, I have never had the degree of delayed onset muscle soreness that I often encounter now. I've wondered if my thyroid issues--I know that Graves' Disease can cause muscle fatigue, weakness and soreness--is a contributing factor. I've started to take a supplement recommended for GD that can help with these muscular issues. We'll see if it helps.

I wish that I could remember if I had this problem back in my GD days, but I wasn't active then and was much younger. I am sure you are hydrating enough before, during and after? For me this will determine if I get sore at all - then again my body doesn't normally "talk" to me in this way (which is one of the reasons I've had problems with over-use injuries) so my experience may be unusual. I hope your supplement works and this improves!

[indysteel]

I don't think I'm dehydrated per se, but I could probably stand to to drink more. And if this was just minor soreness, I'd attribute it to something like that, but there have been a few instances where I could barely move for several days after a workout with my trainer. Granted, I'm worked muscles in novel ways with him at times, but even with that, the soreness seems extreme. Maybe I'm just way more out of shape than I realize. That is a distinct possibility.

[Veronica]

It's a rare day that I am NOT sore after a workout with my trainer. Some days, like today, I just feel it a little. My chest, shoulders and triceps are a little sore today. My abs weren't sore until I went out to run. Then I noticed they were sore too.

Veronica

[Catrin]

It's a rare day that I am NOT sore after a workout with my trainer. Some days, like today, I just feel it a little. My chest, shoulders and triceps are a little sore today. My abs weren't sore until I went out to run. Then I noticed they were sore too.

Veronica

This is interesting as I've had the idea my normal lack of soreness isn't the norm - and it isn't like I don't put out a lot of effort in our crazy workouts. I DID have sore triceps the other day and was kind of pleased about it as it is so rare. The only time I am guaranteed to get sore is if I do heavy deadlifts and I've not done it in awhile - then my hammies talk to me for a couple of days...

[Veronica]

I think she knows me and my body well enough that she pushes me right to the edge. Like yesterday's curls into the overhead presses, I had to do 30 reps with 20 pounds plus the EZ curl bar. Twenty reps would have been hard. :D My third set, she had to assist with the last seven. I've been working with her for about 4 years, so I'm sure that plays in to it.

Veronica

[Catrin]

I think she knows me and my body well enough that she pushes me right to the edge. Like yesterday's curls into the overhead presses, I had to do 30 reps with 20 pounds plus the EZ curl bar. Twenty reps would have been hard. :D My third set, she had to assist with the last seven. I've been working with her for about 4 years, so I'm sure that plays in to it.

Veronica

That makes a lot of sense, it isn't group training which is hard but not as targeted as individual training is. I DO have a short 10-session package with my group trainer so I am sure that there will be some soreness in my future :)

[ridebikeme]

Catrin, I can certainly apprecaite the cranky knees... I have needed a knee replacement for quite some time. I don't do any squats where my knee is below 90 degrees, and some days I eliminate them all together. But there certainlya re plenty of other options, so here's to hoping that you find something where the knees actually are happy. :)

[Catrin]

Thankfully it is reversable, I just need to strengthen that quad that attaches to the kneecap. It's been far worse in the past, and when I concentrate on doing what I know that I need to do it goes away for months. Thankfully squatting doesn't typically hurt it unless it is already flaring pretty badly - even when my butt is almost touching the ground :) The latter is just a drill my trainer has me do on the TRX to help me with my squat range of motion - squat so my butt touches the ground, keep arms extended on the straps in an overhead position and come up into a proper overhead squat position. Hold that a couple of seconds and then, keep the arms extended, come all the way up.

Riding seems to make it the most cranky right now, far more so than gym stuff :( I think that is only because I've not been riding as often as usual and I do think that makes it worse.

[ridebikeme]

Well, I hope that riding starts to ease the pain and NOT the other way around. I wish that I were able to do the squats that you mentioned, but after being a catcher for many many years you can imagine that there truly isn't anything left. Your squats would absolutely destroy me to the point I would be at the orthopedics HA!

Have you ever tried riding very slowly after a gym workout? During the winter months, I try and hop on the trainer and simply pedal very slowly for a few minutes with very little effort. After a short time, I start to feel better although my legs always feel 'heavy' on the bike while I'm either lifting or working with suspension straps.

[Catrin]

Well, I hope that riding starts to ease the pain and NOT the other way around. I wish that I were able to do the squats that you mentioned, but after being a catcher for many many years you can imagine that there truly isn't anything left. Your squats would absolutely destroy me to the point I would be at the orthopedics HA!

Have you ever tried riding very slowly after a gym workout? During the winter months, I try and hop on the trainer and simply pedal very slowly for a few minutes with very little effort. After a short time, I start to feel better although my legs always feel 'heavy' on the bike while I'm either lifting or working with suspension straps.

This is the first time that riding has troubled my knee when other things really doesn't seem to bother it. I will try your suggestion and hop on the spinning bike for a very slow spin after my group or individual training sessions. I need to do something different, that is for sure. My rides are getting shorter and shorter and I hate that :( Interestingly enough, the OTHER knee is the one that looks much worse but it never gives me any trouble at all.

My trainer, so far, has only had me do those squats in particular once and that was just last week. I think he was assessing my mobility/flexibility as we start my 10-session package. After working with me for 3 months in the group training, he has very specific ideas about what I need and thankfully our goals for me coincide.

[Veronica]

Today was leg and plyometric day - lots of jumping! I like jumping! :D

My favorite set though was a balance set. Stand on the Bosu, round side down holding a 25 pound plate to your chest. Do a deep squat - butt to heels.

My least favorite set came right after that. Hold that same 25 pound plate over your head and do step ups with a kick onto a bench.

Veronica

[Catrin]

Have you ever tried riding very slowly after a gym workout? During the winter months, I try and hop on the trainer and simply pedal very slowly for a few minutes with very little effort. After a short time, I start to feel better although my legs always feel 'heavy' on the bike while I'm either lifting or working with suspension straps.

I tried this after my training session this morning - and I had also done my own work on the plate leg press machine after my session with Tony. I don't need help with my lower body, not near as much as my upper, so he is focusing on my upper body, t-spine and shoulders.

Speaking of the TRX he had me do some things on it this morning that basically mimics a hack squat. At the very end he had me do sets of 5 goblet KB squats (a count of 5 during each squat), and 5 racked TRX rows (same count of 5). I lost track of the number of times we did that but I was feeling it toward the end. After that I did 4 sets of leg presses (warming up with 200 pounds, ending at 320) and then did about 5 minutes of very gentle spinning on a spinning bike.

My knee was very well behaved :)

[ridebikeme]

What's a Kb goblet squat? Sounds interesting for sure....

I do hope that your knees quiet down it certainly can make life a bit more difficult. As you know, it's quite often not the issue with strength, but the stability of the joint itself. Women tend to have other issues with wider hips etc... Unlike you, I can not even think of doing squats with weights...too much damage already. At any rate, I do hope that the spin on the bike after your workout calms things down a bit... I can't explain why this helps me because it doesn't make sense, but it does and that's all that counts.

[Crankin]

My knees have started getting a bit achy since I started boot camp, but most recently, in the past 2 months. I notice it on the bike at times; especially on my Guru, where I tend to be riding in a slightly harder gear combo, or doing hard climbs. I hate this.
I think I need to go back to using the lightest bar (6 lbs.) while doing squats. It may be that when I started using the heavier bar, this started. I don't want to give up my classes as they really help me maintain my weight and I feel much stronger. But, when stuff interferes with riding, I get nervous.

[Catrin]

What's a Kb goblet squat? Sounds interesting for sure....

It took a few minutes to find a video that wasn't full of other things, or too much talking before you get to the demo. Here is one that just shows the kettlebell goblet squat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjTGQVpjrS8&feature=related). To make it more challenging you turn the kettlebell upside down.

Crankin - I hope that going back to the lighter bar will help. I KNOW what tweaked my knee this time (it was something stupid), and thankfully it is just about healed :) I hope to go for a nice, if chilly, ride tomorrow afternoon. Part of the problem was that when I tweaked my knee I backed off of riding - and that is never good for my knee. It NEEDS ride, or spin, or something that acts like cycling. I commend you for sticking with Boot Camp - I've watched this class in the past and it just plain has too much running for my knees. I can sprint short distances, or run the occasional 200 meters, but that is my limit.

I do pay attention to my rule that if a movement hurts to not do it - and that applies to squats. Occasionally it hurts, and I stop, other times it makes it feel better, but more often than not my knee doesn't appear to notice it much at all. I am thankful for that...

[ridebikeme]

I'm about to teach a Boot Camp, although there will be no running as the floors in the Wellness Area are too hard. But of course, I will make up for it with other movements. :)

Crankin, I certainly understand you not wanting to back off the weight of your bar. Hopefully you can modify your cycling/gearing to help ease the stress on your knees!

I generally ride all year long, and in the past have made the mistake of riding in a gear that felt comfortable but did a number on my already horrible knees. Now I tend to ride/spin in a much easier gear in the spring and this time of year, although it feels a bit odd... it definitely helps the old and creaking knees. HA!

Thanks for the video Catrin, I'll watch it when I get a chance.