Fun of a different kind!

[Catrin]

Sounds like you have a great idea of what you NEED to do!! Being off the bike will simply make you appreciate it more AND all of your work in the gym will help you on the bike!!

Keep up the good work and great outlook!

Thanks for the encouragement. I do think all of the gym work to focus on different imbalances will really help with the bike once the weather allows me to start riding again. It isn't like I race, or ride the kind of distances some of the women do here. My goals have become more modest than they once were, to become strong and agile, and to be able to ride when and how I want without worrying about this or that injury. The very aggressive goals I once set never worked out due to one over-use injury or another - which meant I was reaching too far for my fitness level at that time. I am probably the most fit in my life right now, but those imbalances need a bit more work and I don't want to forget about endurance. The endurance required in the metabolic work I've been doing is of a different nature than that required by the bike.

[Crankin]

I am so sore. I didn't go to the gym for 2 weeks. When I went to class yesterday, it was the evil instructor, who is going to be there all week, as the other one is traveling on business. Yesterday was "strength" day,so at least I knew which weights to use. With her, I can't use anything bigger than 5 lbs. and the lightest bar, because there are so many repetitions. Even my abs are hurting, and that rarely happens.

[Catrin]

DOMS isn't a bad thing in itself Are you feeling better today? Perhaps your regular instructor will be back next week, hopefully. For "strength" days she goes with a gazillion reps which, of course, forces you to use lower weights?

[Crankin]

Yes, when she is there, I use smaller weights. I had her again today, but there was a little more cardio, although some involved way too many mountain climbers.
I have to now shower, etc. at the gym on Thursdays as I have a client at 8:30, about 25 miles away. I haven't done this in 5 years.

[Catrin]

4 minutes, just 4 minutes at the end of an hour-long workout.

20 seconds frog jumps
20 seconds air squats
20 seconds holding deep squat
back to the top, no breaks, no stopping (or we get to do another full round).

JUST 4 minutes <cue evil music in the background>



So thankful I can still do all of my weird gym stuff outside of front squats, overhead presses & push presses - so what that pumping up my bike tires hurts my shoulder (which makes no sense but there you go)...

[Catrin]

This time I can't blame my trainer, I liked the following workout so much when we did it in group training two weeks ago that I inflicted it upon myself this afternoon:

Dynamic warm-up & some core work then:

one round of the following - 2-3 minute rest between them
(stopping as needed during each round, focusing on making each rep count)

leg presses for 6 minutes (83 reps)
lat pulls for 6 minutes (100 reps)
Single deadlifts for 6 minutes (75 reps)

Not a very long workout - but it didn't need to be

[Catrin]

This morning my trainer occupied me for about 7 minutes with the following:

Pushed a "dog sled" with 50 pounds of plates for 50 yards
Pull another sled with same weight with a monster rope for 50 yards
10 overhead slams with 20 pound dynamax ball
Jog back to the starting line and do 10 tire flips

I did that as quickly as I could (with a short break in between sets), trying to beat my first time. I didn't succeed at that...but it was still fun!

[Crankin]

Went back to boot camp today, for the first time in 2.5 weeks. We did lovely intervals (6, I think) of 10 box jumps, 50 jacks, 10 box jumps, 50 high knees run in place, 10 burpees, 50 kick your butt run in place.
My cheap gym got kettle balls when I was gone.... that was lovely, too. Actually, the class was good, and I was so happy it wasn't the evil one for my first day back.

[Catrin]

Sounds like fun Crankin! I love kettlebells myself, especially since I can't do over-head lifting right now. Yesterday I was able to do KB swings with the 53 pound kettlebell for the first time - 4 sets of 30 seconds each Yesterday also featured alligator crawls (feet on sliders, pulling body forward with elbows with no help from legs - ugh)

[Irulan]

Try "gators" with a 5# plate sometime....

I worked in,or rather successfully attempted plyopushups yesterday into my pushnup sets yesterday (clap push-ups) I did 5 in a row, three times, within sets of 10. That felt awesome.

[Catrin]

Try "gators" with a 5# plate sometime....

I worked in,or rather successfully attempted plyopushups yesterday into my pushnup sets yesterday (clap push-ups) I did 5 in a row, three times, within sets of 10. That felt awesome.

Where is the plate, on the back or pushing it? plyopushups are fun, if hard. Wish my shoulder would allow that right now...

[Irulan]

You drag the plate with your feet!

[Catrin]

You drag the plate with your feet!

I thought of everything but that I will have to give that a shot....

[Catrin]

For this week's 'Sunday Funday' workout, Tony decided to honor the NFL Combine that is currently in session. Our workout this morning focused on agility and explosiveness. We did a wide variety of things that included box jumping, broad jumping, cone drills and sprinting after we warmed up with a basketball shooting game, then a rather lengthy squat and plank/core series. It was quite different from our usual Sunday workouts and it was a lot of fun. Also, for the first time, the box jumps felt pretty darn good

[Crankin]

I skipped yesterday to go x country skiing, necessitating me to go to the evil one's class today. I swear, even with 3 and 5 lb. weights, I could hardly lift my arms in class today. She does so many reps (one minute or more), I can barely stand it! Some of it is because I didn't go for 2.5 weeks when I was sick, but still. I can do her classes when it's interval focused with cardio intervals, but this kills me. There were a couple of new people in class today; one a woman who usually goes at night, who was struggling by the end, and the other, a guy who was barely making it through. I focused on trying to do more than them!