The first week, I was getting out on the mountain bike trails, getting some solid training in and feeling great. Allergies flared up with the wild flowers and spring's warmer weather bringing the desert alive.
Trials were packed with hikers making it hard to keep it safe even with the 6 foot precaution. They closed down a few trail heads here due to the over crowding with everyone wanting to get out and hike the trails. The weekends were horrible.
Workouts moved indoors during the COVID-19. I am not doing as many miles running or cycling that I would like to be doing, but I see that ramping up.
A few adjustments made to the bike trainer, having the ability to use a set of rollers or a trainer where just the back wheel is powered.
I am getting some strength workouts in, staying the in garage or close to the house.
What are you doing? Have you found any online programs or other videos online?
I was excited this past weekend as I was able to get out on three different trails systems over the holiday weekend. I just hit under total miles over the three days and ended up getting 49.85 miles in.
Each of these rides was on pretty similar trail material, being crushed granite. The weather was still pretty warm, even early in the morning. Packed my two-liter Orange Mud hydration pack and a few gels if I needed them.
I still need to get my rear derailleur adjusted better, but the new bike and all are working great.
San Tan Regional Park 18.53 miles
TRW trail system 11.09 miles
Brown's Ranch 20.23 miles
This next weekend, I am headed to Flagstaff to support and my son's junior high mountain bike club compete in their first race of their season. I am excited for him.
Besides running, mountain biking and road cycling, I have also been working in my weight training and other drills.
A book a I bought earlier this year and have been trying to incorporate a lot of the leg workouts with weights. Maximum Overload for Cyclists. Although the title has cyclists in it, the workouts and thought and concept can be used in running also.
I am working too on strengthening my core. Which when it comes to running and cycling, a strong core is key.
Upped the training, well the cycling part so far. I hope to end this week on a high note of crushing 100 miles in my weeks worth of riding. I know it nothing big, but it a goal I am trying for this week. I have 71 miles down and am have two more planned rides on the calendar for this week.
Soon, even though it will be tough, I have a half-marathon to start training for. Running! The run is not until early November and I already have a decent base below me workout wise.
Proud to be representing and using Activ5 allowing me to exercise anywhere. Along with my cardio, cycling, running and swimming, using the Activ5 makes for quick yet effective workout. I have even showed it to my 10 year-old son, using the Activ5 device. Paired through bluetooth to my smartphone, select a workout ranging from upper body, lower body, toning, yoga and pilates, as well as abs, butt and leg workouts. For busy travelers there are even workouts on the app geared towards using in small spaces such as a car or airplane and finally hotel workouts. All these isometric exercises have easy to follow directions and images, showing a model using the device and where to place it for the exercise. The first time you do a specific exercise you will set your “max power” and the app will then contour the exercise according to that setting.
Before performing any of the exercise you can reset your max power output.
At the end of each exercise is give you a report on how you performed that exercise. Your max power in pounds and how much weight can be compared to that you just lifted. The muscle control you had in a percentage.
The little, very portable, device is powered with one AAA battery.
The device works off of applying pressure, sometimes on both sides of the device, others just pressing down, applying pressure to the one side, depending upon the exercise being performed. During each exercise you apply more pressure making the marker rise on the app, and apply less pressure to make it lower. The only setting adjustment I needed to make to my smartphone was the timeout length. I was running in to my smartphone falling asleep during my workout. I have now taken care of this and the Activ5 device is great.
These isometric exercises contract particular muscles or groups of muscles. The muscle doesn't noticeably change length and the affected joint doesn't move.
Besides the Activ5 app, there are other apps (games) out in the iTunes or Google Play stores. Involve the kids in these exercises paired with the games and they will have no idea they are helping tone their muscles.
Over the past few months I have focused on strengthening my glutes, as I have ran into some issues with them cramping on longer rides. The issue I had been having is with the running and cycling motions, my muscles get accustomed to just that forward and backward motion. To help with the strengthening I started doing a few workouts a week with some resistance bands.Using my legs in more of lateral motion to help treat those muscles.
Side leg lifts and doing squats then walking sideways I am trying to trigger and get at those muscles.
My training is going well for completing my own, self-supported Ironman distance race in October of this year. Along with my running, swimming and cycling, I have really focused on strength workouts I am doing every other day. The weights I am using are not super heavy. The weight fluctuates, depending on the body part being focused on, from 10 pounds up to 40 pounds. In the almost hour long workout I am working on my legs, shoulders, chest, abs as well as biceps and triceps. The reps are pretty high for each body part being worked on. I am looking at continuing this workout for the next few months combined with the regular training workouts.
My HR averages to about 115 BPM burning just under 500 calories.
Besides my kettle bell and sandbag I often use for my weight workouts, I use the Gonzo Group’s suspension trainer. Not for all exercises. Quality straps are built into this suspension trainer. I primarily right not use it with the door frame attachment. I do however love the carabiner and how after hooked, using the allen key it can be securely closed. There are numerous exercises I do with this including lat pulls, bicep curls, reverse fly, as well as one legged squats, etc. The handles are very comfortable. The adjustments are easy to make, making switching from exercise to exercise fast. I like how it is very portable, if you would to need to bring with you.
This is a great home workout suspension trainer and look to get many awesome workouts using it and learning more exercises I can do with it.
It was an amazing three day weekend. I was able to ride every morning and get some great quality rides in. The weather is starting to become nicer in the morning and Monday’s ride was pretty much cloud covered and near the end sprinkles started to come down. I can recall a few years ago, not really eating much before heading out on a ride of say 20 miles or more. Half-way through the ride I would feel tired and just lose all energy I had, or thought I had. I have definitely changed up how I eat both leading up to a training ride and right before. Of course I consume nutrition during the ride. My total distance for the past three days has been 83.85 miles, with the furthest ride being the last day at 34.07 miles.
Now here is my biggest jump in the next three weeks. Bringing back the short run workouts after my rides as well as running workouts by themselves. In my mind there are the two sprint triathlons, in October, I am working towards but have not signed up or totally committed to.
I am still plugging away at the "at least a mile a day if not more". I have had to plan more of them now in the evening, even though it is still hot, the sun has gone down. Funny write that, as I just got back this afternoon from my 1.10 mile in 102 degree heat. It wasn't bad but the head reflecting off of the asphalt is hot. For over the past year I have tried to change up my running, to be more of a mid-foot striker and more of a minimalist when it comes to shoes. I have been running wearing the XeroShoes, sandals. I will get more into this later this week, so check back. I am enjoying the Sunday morning group rides I have been apart of over the past month and am looking to see about doing a group ride both weekend days.
Are your workouts boring? Doing the same exercises or routine every week. The Strength Stack 52 is an equipment free exercise card game. The card game is fun and ever changing. It can be used by oneself or numerous people and the skill levels are various. From beginners to very difficult the cards are very easy to understand and learn from. Each card has a picture of the exercise, a description of the exercise, name of the exercise, numbers of repetitions to be performed, difficulty rank as well as a QR code that can be used to link you to a video of the exercise being performed in a video segment. There is also a normal suite (hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs) that can be used on the card if you choose to use those in a desired game. There is a value given to each card, as this can also be used to develop or use in a desired game. The cards are also color coded with six different color, each color representing the dominate muscle group being worked. The Strength Stack 52 Fitness Cards Pack contains:
15 cardio exercises (Blue)
32 core/ab exercises (Red)
3 back exercises (Pink)
30 leg exercises (Yellow)
9 Arm exercises (Orange)
13 chest exercises (Green)
12 of the hardest bodyweight exercises known to man (Gold)
3 instructional cards
2 wild cards (used in games)
If you think or love the Strength Stack 52 your in luck, there are also the Strength Stack 52 Expansion Pack and Strength Stack 52 Insane Pack available. By the way the Strength Stack 52 was created by military fitness expert and scientist Sergeant Michael Volkin and used by the US Army in Iraq.
I was sent the Strength Stack 52 Fitness cards to test and review.
So this past week I have stuck to low impact workouts and two runs on the still sore knee. I am working on getting into a doctor to have the issue looked at more in depth. Crazy, normally in the past two years I have issues with my IT band after a bike crash, and that seemed like forever to get taken care of. I have reworked my training calendar, so really I am still on pace to complete the training program before the June race. The low impact work on the rollers and riding on the road has me training for a 12 hour mountain bike race also in June. The weather here in Arizona has been great for getting outdoors. I put my rollers in the driveway to keep an eye on my kids while they play outside. Not to many places can say they are in the mid-70's temperature wise this time of year. I am working on incorporating a light weight set / resistance band work out into my training this week.
When it comes down to it, it was the week that was not. Waited pretty much all week for x-ray results from the doctor dealing with my knee. Workouts were kept to low impact on the bike rollers and road riding. The night after I got results back I took a short run to work on getting back into it. The knee is still kind of hurting so I am going to see an orthopedic doctor and see if the issue can be worked out. I have started to experiment with a Training Mask, which simulates training at altitude. I will break out my thoughts on it and review it in a few weeks, so hang around for that.
I have been using X-1 by H2O Audio waterproof headphone systems for years now. A great way to enjoy music without having to worry about sweat or water damaging your electronics. I was using Surge headphones attached to a swim belt in which my iPod 3rd generation Nano was safely inside a case providing me numerous hour of enjoyable quality workouts in the pool. With wanting to do flip turns, the cord which ran along my back, I was afraid would get in the way. So I decided to get another waterproof case from X-1.
The case I got was the Interval 4G system which holds the 4th generation iPod shuffle and attaches to the goggles strap. Out of the way from swinging arms while swimming. I now use the other case I have for running on the treadmill or riding my bike on the indoor rollers.
I had the custom ear molds made at Gold Canyon Hearing, helping to make sure the ear phones stay in place. The smallest bit of water still gets in my ears, but the custom molds totally help with ear issues with water in the ear. The set up is awesome. I fire up a good playlist and away I go. Swim workouts are very enjoyable and the music helps me stay focused. Really the only drawback is losing track of time and laps. Summer has unofficially come to an end with Labor Day and so has my season pass to the local pool.
