On other fronts, we're slated to go back to our modified P90X routine--though this time with even more modifications--in about a week. More on that later as well.
Monday, April 26, 2010
My excuse for a two-week hiatus
A picture's worth a thousand words, as they say, so below is (in part) my explanation for not having blogged for a couple of weeks:
To make a short story long, I had to make an out-of-state run to get this thing. Then there was assembly, test riding, and tweaking--the latter of which is still in process. I'll give a fuller report on the new acquisition later, but will just say for now that I'm mostly pleased with it.
On other fronts, we're slated to go back to our modified P90X routine--though this time with even more modifications--in about a week. More on that later as well.
On other fronts, we're slated to go back to our modified P90X routine--though this time with even more modifications--in about a week. More on that later as well.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
35 mile day
It was nice yesterday and we had the time, so we put in about 35 miles. There was a strong wind, which made riding in a certain direction tough. And I wasn't exactly taking it easy.
I had the heart monitor on. During most of the ride my heart rate was between 150 and 160. I saw 173 at one point after we'd gone up a tough hill.
As a 51 year old, my maximum heart rate, according to some charts, is supposed to be 170. Well, I blew that one out of the water yesterday. And those who've followed this blog will know that I've seen much higher heart rates than that.
And sustaining a rate in the 150-160 range for the bulk of yesterday's ride--which took a little over two hours--should be impossible for someone my age according to that chart. Well, I survived to tell about it.
Not to say that I don't feel the effects of it today. No, this being the first 35 mile day of the year, I think I overdid it yesterday. I should've taken it a little easier. As a result of the muscle soreness/stiffness and residual exhaustion from yesterday, we did only a short, liesurely ride today.
But yesterday's ride will help me build up fitness. The next 35 mile ride will be easier on the body, even if I push as hard as I did today--at least if fitness in my sixth decade will work as it has throughout my life previous to this.
I had the heart monitor on. During most of the ride my heart rate was between 150 and 160. I saw 173 at one point after we'd gone up a tough hill.
As a 51 year old, my maximum heart rate, according to some charts, is supposed to be 170. Well, I blew that one out of the water yesterday. And those who've followed this blog will know that I've seen much higher heart rates than that.
And sustaining a rate in the 150-160 range for the bulk of yesterday's ride--which took a little over two hours--should be impossible for someone my age according to that chart. Well, I survived to tell about it.
Not to say that I don't feel the effects of it today. No, this being the first 35 mile day of the year, I think I overdid it yesterday. I should've taken it a little easier. As a result of the muscle soreness/stiffness and residual exhaustion from yesterday, we did only a short, liesurely ride today.
But yesterday's ride will help me build up fitness. The next 35 mile ride will be easier on the body, even if I push as hard as I did today--at least if fitness in my sixth decade will work as it has throughout my life previous to this.
Monday, April 5, 2010
New upper-body fitness dream
I've wanted to try rowing since I was in my twenties, but never had an opportunity. Now that I'm looking into various ways of strengthening and toning the upper body, I've begun thinking about that again.
Wouldn't it be great to have a form of upper-body strengthening/toning that didn't require standing inside in a room and performing strenuous activity, but that allowed you to be out in nature while doing this exertion--at least sometimes? Well, rowing definitely fills that bill. Ok, so rowing works out your lower body as well; I'm not against doing some extra lower-body aerobics if it's complementary to my cycling, and rowing looks like it would be.
I did a little searching today to see what's available in terms of rowing possibilities where I live. There is a local club, but it seems to be geared mostly toward women, oddly enough. Plus, they use racing sculls and I'd actually prefer using something closer to a row boat or canoe. I also don't like the idea of going in reverse while you're trying to get a good aerobic upper-body workout: seems like a recipe for accidents.
Well, with some further searching I came across this:
There are actually a few different desgins/companies putting out this sort of thing. This design gives you essentially the same workout as you'd get from traditional rowing, but you face the direction of your boat is heading, rather than having your back towards it, as in traditional rowing. Incidentally, these are drop-in units that allow you to covert many types of boats into a forward-facing rowboat
This is exciting. I'd love to try one of these. Heck, I'd love to do something like this as my main form of upper-body fitness for most of the summer. But a few things interfere.
First, these things are not cheap. From what I've seen in my searches, you could easily sink 5 grand into a boat like this for two. With some economizing--like maybe by picking up a decent used canoe--you could spend maybe a grand or two less. That's still a pretty hefty price for yours truly.
But that's not even the main detriment. The main problem for me with this sort of fitness option is that I'm not very near any body of water where I could use it. At least not near enough that I wouldn't have to load the thing onto a trailer and haul it a few miles with my car. If I lived within a few hundred feet of a lake or river something like this would be more realistic. But hitching a trailer and loading an unloading a boat each time I want to go and do some upper-body strengthening? It's a bit impracticable, to say the least.
Then, there's the storage problem. Where do you keep your 15-18 foot canoe when you're not out on the water? For many people that would pose a problem, but for me it's an insurmountable obstacle.
But I'm going to keep dreaming. Who knows, maybe one day I'll live somewhere where owning and using something like this would be more realistic, or maybe I'll find a place where I could rent one on occassions when I wanted to do this?
It's an inspiring idea. I'll file it away in the category of great fintess concepts I'd like to try out.
Wouldn't it be great to have a form of upper-body strengthening/toning that didn't require standing inside in a room and performing strenuous activity, but that allowed you to be out in nature while doing this exertion--at least sometimes? Well, rowing definitely fills that bill. Ok, so rowing works out your lower body as well; I'm not against doing some extra lower-body aerobics if it's complementary to my cycling, and rowing looks like it would be.
I did a little searching today to see what's available in terms of rowing possibilities where I live. There is a local club, but it seems to be geared mostly toward women, oddly enough. Plus, they use racing sculls and I'd actually prefer using something closer to a row boat or canoe. I also don't like the idea of going in reverse while you're trying to get a good aerobic upper-body workout: seems like a recipe for accidents.
Well, with some further searching I came across this:
There are actually a few different desgins/companies putting out this sort of thing. This design gives you essentially the same workout as you'd get from traditional rowing, but you face the direction of your boat is heading, rather than having your back towards it, as in traditional rowing. Incidentally, these are drop-in units that allow you to covert many types of boats into a forward-facing rowboat
This is exciting. I'd love to try one of these. Heck, I'd love to do something like this as my main form of upper-body fitness for most of the summer. But a few things interfere.
First, these things are not cheap. From what I've seen in my searches, you could easily sink 5 grand into a boat like this for two. With some economizing--like maybe by picking up a decent used canoe--you could spend maybe a grand or two less. That's still a pretty hefty price for yours truly.
But that's not even the main detriment. The main problem for me with this sort of fitness option is that I'm not very near any body of water where I could use it. At least not near enough that I wouldn't have to load the thing onto a trailer and haul it a few miles with my car. If I lived within a few hundred feet of a lake or river something like this would be more realistic. But hitching a trailer and loading an unloading a boat each time I want to go and do some upper-body strengthening? It's a bit impracticable, to say the least.
Then, there's the storage problem. Where do you keep your 15-18 foot canoe when you're not out on the water? For many people that would pose a problem, but for me it's an insurmountable obstacle.
But I'm going to keep dreaming. Who knows, maybe one day I'll live somewhere where owning and using something like this would be more realistic, or maybe I'll find a place where I could rent one on occassions when I wanted to do this?
It's an inspiring idea. I'll file it away in the category of great fintess concepts I'd like to try out.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
End of weeklong break
Just a short note to announce that our week off from fitness ended today and we got back to it with a 16.5 mile ride on the road. We had time and I had intended to put in more miles than that but there was a really vicious wind blowing: the kind that, when you come to a good clearing where a side-wind can hit you, you have to lean into the wind to stay a straight course--that is, after briefly getting pushed a foot or so to the side. Kind of sad to have not put in more miles, but it's still early in the season and there should be plenty of further opportunities.
On the strength training front, we'll start back with our usual Mon./Fri. sessions tomorrow. We talked about when our next strength-training switch-up will be and decided to shoot for the beginning of May. At that point we'll cut back on strength-training (upper body) and abdominal/core training to once per week. More detail s later on that, though I will at least say for now that I'm planning on calling this phase something like modified P90X-alt (I'll explain the title later).
On the strength training front, we'll start back with our usual Mon./Fri. sessions tomorrow. We talked about when our next strength-training switch-up will be and decided to shoot for the beginning of May. At that point we'll cut back on strength-training (upper body) and abdominal/core training to once per week. More detail s later on that, though I will at least say for now that I'm planning on calling this phase something like modified P90X-alt (I'll explain the title later).
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