Exercise & Fitness

[baxus]

that zombie themed race sounds like a lot of fun.

i wish something like that was done in my area :(

[peterbound]

day two of the fall's starting strength session. so stiff and twingy from monday's squats, first set of deadlifts still had me on crazy tight afterwards. Lots of slow, deliberate stretching and time between sets and almost no increase in weight meant I got through the session okay (with lots of stretching afterwards too). Looking forward to week three when I won't be quite as sore and stiff and can lift heavier. Had a great feel for the presses, seemed like the form, particularly the shrug/stretch at the top to full extension really was working nicely for me. Stayed light, but even light didn't feel nearly as heavy as I'm used to, I'm curious if my press will have increased since March.

Finished off with two Clean sets, okay, but I need to review starting strength on clean form, I think.

www.mobilitywod.com

http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/platform_coaching_the_clean_jerk

[Vethnar]

Best of luck! That will be us you hear cheering!

Thanks! :)

I need to review starting strength on clean form, I think.

I wouldn't do that. I've spent lots of time and frustration unlearning the bad habits I acquired from the power clean chapter of Starting Strength. Don't get me wrong: it's a good book in general, but the power clean chapter isn't the best part of the book. You'll do better learning the Olympic lifts from Everett's and/or McCauley's books, I think. McCauley's book, in particular, is excellent.

[downtown1441]

Has anyone tried the "Warrior Diet," where you eat really sparingly during the day and then feast like a mofo late at night as your one main meal? I'm thinking about giving it a shot... I've managed to pack on some pudge during the summer, so far I've fallen through three separate deck chairs on my porch.

Although really, it's probably just shoddy workmanship...

[lokisnow]

Thanks! :)

I wouldn't do that. I've spent lots of time and frustration unlearning the bad habits I acquired from the power clean chapter of Starting Strength. Don't get me wrong: it's a good book in general, but the power clean chapter isn't the best part of the book. You'll do better learning the Olympic lifts from Everett's and/or McCauley's books, I think. McCauley's book, in particular, is excellent.

What in particular was the problem with the Clean information in Starting Strength? I've not regularly done the clean in any of my SS sessions, but I thought I'd include it this time.

[LacyinTX]

Has anyone tried the "Warrior Diet," where you eat really sparingly during the day and then feast like a mofo late at night as your one main meal? I'm thinking about giving it a shot... I've managed to pack on some pudge during the summer, so far I've fallen through three separate deck chairs on my porch.

Although really, it's probably just shoddy workmanship...

YMMV. I always find that several small meals during the day is better for me than one large meal at night. I haven't heard of this Warrior Diet.

I am no expert, but in my experience WHAT I eat is more important than WHEN I eat.

[Harlot]

Putting aside issues of what to eat, the general advice I've been given is: Eat Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Gentleman and Dinner like a Pauper. The idea being that you consume the most calories at the start of your day rather then later when you are less active. YMMV

[Vethnar]

What in particular was the problem with the Clean information in Starting Strength?

I've lent my copy of "Starting Strength" to a friend, but based on my memory: It teaches the first pull as a deadlift, the second pull as a jump/triple extension, and doesn't really explain the third pull at all. It also instructs the lifter to stomp the feet back and try to make a loud noise, which is dangerous advice, because it can result in the dreaded Donkey Kick Syndrome.

You can clean in the style taught by Rippetoe, but it isn't how the elite lifters today do the lift, and you'll almost certainly be able to clean heavier weights if you learn the correct technique. Rather than trying to explain it myself, I'll just link to

with Don McCauley, where he explains it all better than I ever could. If you want to lift in this style, get McCauley's book, where he gives a detailed learning progression.

The particular bad habits I acquired by reading "Starting Strength" was starting with the hips too high (like in a deadlift), getting up on the forefoot too early in the second pull, making an active effort to jump as far up in the air as possible, pulling too high, and being way too slow to get down under the bar.

[Vethnar]

I've foolishly signed up for the 100m in the 35-39 year class in the national masters track and field championship the coming weekend, despite not having done any running training since more than a year, due to a chronic Achilles injury. I'll see how far I can get with nothing but weightlifting training.

I did a short track workout today, just to see how it felt. My sprinting technique has suffered a lot from the lack of training, but the speed and explosiveness didn't seem too bad. The Achilles tendon hurts, as expected, but I think it will hold up for a single meet. A worse problem is the knee on the other leg, which feels a little wobbly after I hurt it when I tried a long jump a couple of weeks ago (just in order to settle a stupid bet).

Of course, I'll let you all know how it goes.

OK, here comes the promised report.

I'm not really a very good 100m sprinter; my best distances under ordinary circumstances are the 200 and the 400. The reason why I signed up only for the 100m this time was that I felt I lacked the speed endurance for the longer distances, because the above-mentioned injuries have prevented me from training properly. In the days after my experimental track workout on Tuesday, my Achilles tendon hurt so much that I almost decided to withdraw. On top of it all, I managed to stub a toe quite badly when walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night the night before the race.

Nevertheless, I decided to go, armed with a new pair of spikes (these ones, which are my favorite spikes ever), a tight and rather uncomfortable knee wrap, and tons of ibuprofen, in both pill and cream form. I ate the pills and applied the cream to my Achilles tendon throughout the day, hoping that it would alleviate the pain, and it seemed to work reasonably well.

As one would expect when trying to run a 100 with almost no sprint training, my race was quite far from perfect. My angle out of the blocks was a little too aggressive (i.e. too much forward lean), causing me to stumble a little and lose speed immediately, but I managed to recover fairly well. From then on, I ran reasonably fast, albeit with awkward sprinting technique, until around 50-60 meters, when I ran completely out of gas. Rather than trying to relax and float to the finish line while maintaing as much speed as possible, I panicked and tensed up. The last half of my race must have been ugly and painful to watch.

Nevertheless, I at least managed to win my class (35-39 years). However, the guy who won the 40-44 years class was actually faster, which is a little embarrassing. My time, needless to say, was less than stellar (please don't ask). The answer to the question of whether it is possible to run the 100 well with nothing but weightlifting training is clearly a resounding "no", at least in my case.

At least I'm now the national champion, and it's the first time in my life I'm a national champion at anything at all, so I shouldn't be totally disappointed. I'll try to be satisfied, and of course to run much faster next year. :)

Oh, and I almost forgot: Here's a photo.

[LacyinTX]

At least I'm now the national champion, and it's the first time in my life I'm a national champion at anything at all, so I shouldn't be totally disappointed. I'll try to be satisfied, and of course to run much faster next year. :)

Oh, and I almost forgot: Here's a photo.

Congratulations! That is awesome!! :bowdown:

[Harlot]

Congrats Vethnar! :cheers:

Did my Ruckus Run this morning. 4 miles, 12 obstacles in 39 mins. 48 secs. I feel good about it. No doubt I need to work on upper body strength. Very fun and I came out of it with only a skinned knee. It was a nice mix of obstacles, running and good old fashioned mud pits.

They had a mini-ruckus for kids. My son had a blast. Kids could do it as many times as they wanted. He did it about 25. :lol:

[Eponine]

Congrats Vethnar!

I was concerned about waiving some of my academic fees as a part time student because it would mean that I couldn't use the rec center and therefore couldn't shower if I wanted to run before or between classes, (but I need the $1000 back more than I need the convenience right now, long story), but it turns out that there's a secret shower in my department's building that I've been given permission to use :)

[Harlot]

16 miles today. 2:53:04. Ugh, I felt sluggish and can't imagine how I'm supposed to run 10 more miles with 7 weeks left to train. So sore. I feel like the mental part is actually worse. I'm doubting my decision to change my goal to a full marathon. I gotta get my head straight.

[Xray the Enforcer]

At least I'm now the national champion, and it's the first time in my life I'm a national champion at anything at all, so I shouldn't be totally disappointed. I'll try to be satisfied, and of course to run much faster next year. :)

Oh, and I almost forgot: Here's a photo.

congratulations!!

[Harlot]

Chats - Thank you. Both for your comments here and FB. You are right, of course. I'll look for 2nd surge. I ate a lararbar when I first got up, hammer gel 15 mins before then stinger gels at each hour. I probably do need to fuel more. I had a huge pasta dinner the night before. I guess I felt confident in my carb loading. I had 2 protein shots after the run (40 grams) and then chocolate milk. Ate lunch shortly after with a good mix of protein and carbs.

I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon and felt much better.

[Harlot]

I usually use the mocha GU with caffeine I was experimenting with the stingers. Didn't actually like them. I'm feeling like better fuel and better rest, plus s nice short 12 miler will have me back on track by next week.

@Trisk - isn't he just too cute. :P

[alguien]

Harlot,

It sounds like on a bad day you're still going sub-11 minute miles, so I would say you're going to be fine.

If you think, how on earth could I do 10 more miles, remember, you'll be coming into the marathon with a taper behind you, instead of a several weeks worth of hard running.

And believe me, that taper, the lessening of distance right up to the race, makes a HUGE difference. Your legs are going to feel amazing during those taper weeks.

And Chats advice of GU is good too, if your feeling low on energy.

Anyway, had an interesting 13 miler on Saturday. Varied my route and almost got lost. A bit slow, especially on the way back, but felt good most of the time.

19 miles this Saturday...

Should be interesting.

[cjfshaw]

So the bar scraping my shins doesn't hurt so much anymore. Now it just kind of itches.

[Minaku]

Grats Vethnar!

After a week of being sick I picked it back up yesterday. I wasn't seeing results like I wanted so I'm sucking it up and returning to the intensity level of about 3 years ago. So, yesterday was about 35 minutes of cardio, followed by an hour of chest/shoulders/tris, and about 10-15 minutes of abs at the end.

Today I'm feeling it, but I'm not crazy sore which is really encouraging. Plyo is on the docket today, but I'm going to squeeze in a Pilates session before I do it. After a week of being useless I actually felt really good on the treadmill yesterday despite coughing up gobs of phlegm, and had myself a nice sprint to finish off the session. Felt lovely just to move my body.

[Muttering Bill]

Back to work last week, and so I'm back to the gym as well (as I can afford to pay for a membership again). So I'm doing 5 workouts a week. 3 days weights with half hour run, and the other 2 days doing a 1 hour run only. It's going well so far - 14 days/8 hours a day of picketing has really adjusted my legs to daily abuse, so these short runs aren't exhausting me like they used to. I'd like to work in a long run on Saturday mornings (a 'long' run is about 8 miles for me), but I doubt that it's going to happen. After next week, pee-wee football season will be starting. Going to my daughter's (cheerleader) games will eat up most of the morning. By the end of football season it will probably be too cold for running outside.

Now that I've got a regular workout schedule settled again, my project for this week is sleep. I think that's the biggest corrupter in why I'm not dropping weight like I should be. My goal is to get an extra 2 hours every night. Didn't happen Sunday night, but I did make it last night. I'm feeling much better today as a result. Still needed a mid-morning nap, but it was only 20 minutes, compared to the hour and a half that I needed last week. Already dropped 5 lbs since Friday, so I'm curious to see what results I'll get from a full week of proper rest.