False Start

Not exactly the start I wanted to get off to regarding my endurance training.  I've gotten in a couple good road rides the last few days, a sluggish run, and an ok weight training session, but my lack of adequate rest has already created a bit of a road block.  Simple fact is, you can't train what you don't recover, so I had to take a bit of a step back this morning and sacrifice good free time I planned to use for training in favor of getting some well needed rest.  Once I've got the sleep part of things figured out, I'm sure I'll hit the dirt spinning.

On an exciting note, I should be getting my new (new to me anyway) race rig tomorrow.  Though I said I'd never straddle another 29er, I'm getting a great deal on an Orbea Alma Carbon bike from a really good friend.  The frame is a smaller size that I'd usually ride, but in checking out the geometry and fitting standards on the Orbea website, it should just about fit.  Either way, the deal is so good it's not worth passing up, even if after getting it I need to make some other arrangements to get a larger frame.  Nothing like getting some new wheels!

Focus wise, it's really interesting swapping over, back to endurance.  The good thing, as I see it, will be that I'll be fitter for any downhill/enduro races that I do.  In addition, my bike skills are the best they've ever been, making for what will be an interesting combo if I can get my fitness back to where it used to be.  After my last stint in XC racing, I realized that though I was fitter than most other racers, my skill were seriously lacking.  In fact, that's what got me into the whole downhill thing.  I had so much fun trying to improve my skills for XC, I fell in love with DH and just kept it moving from there.  Now though, in deciding to pull off a piece of the pie from every angle, it's going to be a whole new ballgame.

At the end of the day, I'm just at my happiest when I'm riding bikes.  I've got a long travel bike, a dirt jump bike, and (soon to have) and XC bike.  Why in the world would I choose to limit myself to riding and racing just one???

And here I am again...

I can't even begin to share the adventures I've been through on this blog just yet.  Everything has been a blur for about the past three months but the speed seems to be slowing to a comfortable pace.  Things are getting settled and new adventures are on the doorstep of beginning.

I've decided to throw my hat back into the endurance mountain biking ring once again.  Following Anne around to all of her races has got the endurance bug biting me in the ass once again.  I won't go the triathlon route again just yet (not quite ready to get back into the water), but I'm excited to get back onto the bike and put in some miles in the dirt.  The plan isn't to focus ONLY on endurance though, as I'm still quite keen on racing enduro and downhill before this years season comes to a close.  Maybe it's silly to be a jack of all trades on the mountain bike, but I can't see (in my head anyway) any way in which I'd be at a specific disadvantage.  My bike handling skills are back up to snuff, and I've spent two years working almost exclusively on riding fast down hills.  Now I've just got to get back into that pedaling thing.

I'll write more as I've now begun "formal" training, and update more regularly before the first endurance race, the Wilderness 101 (NUE series)-which was oddly my last endurance race completed. Looking forward to the new journey!

And the beat goes on...

Not much in the last days.  Great workouts and lots of "life stuff" going on.  Looking forward to the warm weather and FINALLY being able to spend some time with my beautiful fiancee Anne, who will be here on a visit while we wait for her visa to come through.  We haven't seen each other since January 3rd, so this reunion is well overdue.

Today will be a rest day from exercise, but not from cleaning and preparing the house for her arrival.  Women, funny as it may seem, often have a different definition of what constitutes a clean home.  Now that I'm closing in on my last moments as a bachelor, my window of chaotic living (my apartment being dirty) is coming to a fast close.  It's been a good run, but now it's time to harden up and CLEAN UP.

Such a busy day I forgot I worked out!

In these days of trying to grow my business and prepare for the future ahead, more times than not I'm trying to find inventive ways to fit in a workout in the midst of running back and forth from wherever to wherever.  Just about every day of this I remember my workout, not always because of how hard it was, but merely for the fact that it's a HUGE priority in my life and I ALWAYS make time for it.  Today though, the workout just sort of fit in.  It wasn't the "event" of the day, but rather just another cog in the machine of movement that went into making today what it was.

I had to get in something quick.  By the time I got into the gym I had about 30 minutes to not only warm up (which I almost never do), but also complete a tough workout, and get changed and ready to meet with my next appointment.  Long story short, after a quick warmup of some push ups, sit ups, and pull ups, I completed the following:

3 rounds of 2 minutes work, 1 minute rest of:
5 Burpees
5 Pull ups
6 Sandbag shouldering (alternating)
3 rounds of 2 minutes work, 1 minute rest of:
Sandbag getups, alternating sides on the "stand"

In comparison to the workout I did Saturday, this looks like nearly nothing (at least to me).  But, and that's a big "BUT", when done to max effort, this little nugget becomes quite the female dog.  It's easy enough to allow you (me) to continue work without interruption, yet tough enough to let you know you really did something by the end.  Also, it's convenient in the way that it takes up little time as well as uses little equipment.  Nothing but a pull up bar is necessary, and if that's unavailable, sandbag bent over rows can be substituted.  Simple, basic, and unconventional-everything that I believe in!

When I first found kettlebells I thought that would be it for me.  I loved them (and still do), but have found a real gem in sandbag training.  There's nothing else that I've ever come across in all my years of being in the fitness industry that challenges you in a similar way.  To me, sandbags are the closest thing to grappling (or wrestling) as you can get-and THAT, my friends, is one of the hardest things you can physically do.  When you actually "fight" another human being, you're bringing yourself to entire new levels of strength and conditioning.  It's no wonder that combat athletes are some of the fittest people in the world.  The human psyche, in most instances, doesn't quit.  Our survival instincts kick in and we're literally fighting for our lives.  Pain and "the burn" kind of become secondary when someone is trying to choke you unconscious.

So, with sandbag training, you're "fighting" that dead weight in a similar manner as you do when grappling.  It's moving an object that's got it's own idea of where it wants to go.  No dumbbell, barbell, or even kettlebell demands the absolute control of a sandbag.  While kettlebells are a close second, they are still second.  Long live king sandbag!

Easter Nothing-day

First and foremost, Happy Easter! Now that that's out of the way...

Happily deciding to do no exercise today.  I got a bit cocky last night and blew things out of the water with a combined kettlebell/sandbag/bodyweight interval workout.  I piggybacked the workout from the website www.mymadmethods.com, an AWESOME site, focusing on unconventional training-something I'm hugely in favor of.  As I get into my 30's now (save the sighs for later), I'm putting more and more of a precedence on functional training and strength.  It's paying off as I've never felt more "all-around" fit before.

For years I've been focusing any training I do toward a specific athletic event.  Be it, ice hockey, lacrosse, football, MMA, triathlon, cycling, mountain biking-whatever, I've trained to mimic the movements in those sports and strengthen my performance on the field/trail/road/etc.  With my athletic career coming to a close (figuratively speaking-it's not like I'm getting paid to compete.  I'll compete for fun now and for the challenge, but I wouldn't say it's the overwhelming priority at the moment) I'm switching the focus to training for life.  Everything I do in the gym is dedicated to making me a healthier and happier individual for the LONG TERM.  For example, I lost a lot of strength when I concentrated on endurance sports.  Yeah I was strong on the bike/run, but I was no good at picking things up and putting them down.  Even if you're not a meathead, you've got to admit that many of the tasks we face each and every day in life involve picking up objects and putting them down.  It's inevitable.  Therefore, moving into a different phase of my life-one that will be focused more on building a life and family with my future wife, as well as all the things that come along with that, it's going to be important that I be a strong individual in ALL aspects, not just in riding a bike.

Going back to what I said before, never feeling so well-roundedly fit in my life is really defined as being a jack of all trades.  To me, the importance of physical strength, mixed in with stamina (or endurance) is huge.  Yeah, it's impossible (if you want to be at the highest level of either the endurance game or the strength game) to have both.  People will argue with me, but you've never seen a Kenyan marathoner in a powerlifting contest have you?  And likewise, you don't see those big dudes and girls in the Olympics with hundreds of kilos over their heads winning the local 5 or 10k right?  Anyhow, for the vast majority of us "regular" folk, having a good combination of both is perfectly achievable and in many more ways, much more of an advantage as we progress further in life.  Longevity is much more likely with a healthy body that can perform all the tasks put before it, than with a body designed specifically for one, and only one purpose.

Accordingly so, this is the workout that I did last night.  Again, it's one that has modified from an existing workout.  I added in some sandbag work to mix things up, as well as made it into an interval workout so that I could use my new Gymboss (www.gymboss.com) timer.  Sometimes new toys give you good ideas!  The workout is meant to be done Heavy and paced well.  DO NOT SUBSTITUTE FORM FOR WEIGHT!  Here goes:
5 rounds of 30 seconds at each exercise followed by 15 seconds of rest before moving on the the next.  Take 1-4 minutes to rest between rounds.  1 round consists of:
-2 Hand Kettlebell Swing
-1 Leg Alternating Deck Squats
-Sandbag Cleans
-Air (Hindu) Squats
-Double Kettlebell Cleans
-Alternating Low Lunges
-Kettlebell Figure 8 (Slingshots) to hold
-Sandbag Shouldering (Alternating)
-Clapping Pushups
-Kettlebell Snatch (left)
-Kettlebell Snatch (right)
-Long Cycle Double Kettlebell Clean and Jerk

All together this workout should be, if done to 5 rounds, 30 minutes of actual "work".  Of course your heart rate will stay up for the entire duration, and I won't get into the science of that, but if you're fit, you'll find the "work" to be WORK, and the "rest" to be REST.  You can adjust the rest periods accordingly (15 seconds can be more or less, that's just what I suggest and used), but remember that the idea here is heavy weight paced accordingly.  Again, if you're fit, the 15 seconds should be ample time in which to recover from the previous effort.

For me, this workout felt great.  I completed the 5 rounds in good shape and didn't feel overly cooked by the end.  This, of course, is a sign that I'm nice and fit.  I was honest with myself about the weights, actually surprising myself with the amount I could use for the duration of the workout.  I was fully prepared to be humbled with my original choice of weights, but was happy to find that I never broke form.

Today, as stated before, will be a rest day.  I pushed hard at times this week, taking my normal "once a week" rest day, but am feeling a bit more like I need another day in which to rest my body a bit.  These strength and conditioning workouts are much different than the traditional weightlifting and endurance work I've done the last few years, so I tend to be a bit more on the cautious side when programming my weeks.  In all, though, I'm stoked with where I am and looking forward to continuing this trend.

Keep Calm, Everything is Fine

Lots going on this past week.  Work, though not too busy is still the first "taker" of my time.  Of course not in a negative way, just a real way of leaving me with less time to pursue "hobbies".  Still managed to get a lot done, and with Anne coming in less than a week, this is a good thing.

There's some house-stuff to get done: Sheetrock, flooring, painting, and tiling all to get started, in addition to just THROWING SHIT OUT! It's all a big cleanse though, and having a chance to "begin" my life with someone who I love is a great motivating factor.  I've found in my life that when things really matter to me, they have a way of getting done in the timeliest of fashions.  Maybe there's something to that...

So, in an effort to keep this short (and God knows I've got enough to keep me busy and updating my blog isn't exactly one of them!), that's about all that's going on.  Lots of work to get done, trying to exercise, ride my bike, and skateboard if I can (although exercise IS a priority and time WILL be made for at least 30 minutes no matter what!).  So that is all.  It was a short one, but hey, at least I got one up here!

You know you're tired when...

...you're crankier than a 2 year old teething; you crave sugar all day; and all you want to do is sleep, even after getting a full night's sleep the night before.  I am all of the above today and have, in keeping with being smart (some of the time anyway), decided to take the day completely off from exercise.  That is, of course, with the exception of doing some "physical work" while teaching my kettlebell class later this evening.

If there's one thing I've found with the higher intensity weight training and unorthodox methods that I've been using lately, it's that you've got to make sure your programming is intelligent.  It's an absolute MUST that you layer workouts correctly and a MUST that you take ample time to recover.  The problem, in my opinion, with programs like CrossFit, is that they do not (in many cases) program accordingly.  Clients get burned out, injured, or just plain unmotivated to kill it every day.  For a highly motivated person, burnout might take longer, but regardless of anything, the body is going to break down.

I'm getting the hang of this myself.  As I alluded to in yesterday's post, I'm finding these high intensity workouts to be quite useful given my lack of time and general rushing around type of lifestyle.  Things will eventually settle down, but I'm learning a great lesson in terms of my own fitness goals.  I'm now more well rounded than I've been in a while-combining strength and muscle while still maintaining a certain (albeit less) level of endurance.  For me, and for my goals this season, it's a worthwhile compromises.  Enduro races combine the best aspects of DH racing and XC racing, all on the same mountain bike.  You'll ride a lot, so I'll need the "legs", but the real races is on the declines, and that's where the extra muscle will come in handy.

So all in all things are going good with my personal goals.  I've been big into making whole food juices (more on that in another post), and my diet in general has not been this good since I can't remember when.  I'm noticing much greater energy levels as well as recovering much better from these workouts. I'd always thought that protein was the most important part of muscle recovery, but now I'm convinced that on the whole, getting in veggies and fruits in ADDITION to solid protein is equally important.  When these stars align, things are gonna be groovy.