Did another 30 miles or so today. I just want to comment on what a great feeling it is, having gone up a hard hill, or done some acceleration to catch another cyclist--legs burning with lactic acid build-up and breathing going at a good clip--to feel there's still more gas in the tank. In other words, you're putting out hard and it hurts, but at the same time you feel like you can sustain it and maybe even gear it up a notch or two. Compare this to early in the season when, once you reach the top of that same hill, you feel like it's all you can do just to keep your legs moving.
Anyway, I'm starting to feel some of that satisfaction now. Looking for an opportunity to up the mileage again, but it's doubtful we'll be able to do that soon--certainly not tomorrow. We'll be lucky to get in some short on-road mileage, and may even have to resort to the stationary bikes. Well, I try to take comfort in the fact that quite a few weeks of decent cycling weather lie ahead of us.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Second segment of alternate modified P90X (after a year off)
So we did our second round of our alternate modified P90X yesterday. This is DVD 3 from the P90X series. It was a lot easier than DVD 1 and, though I feel sore today, it's nothing like the soreness I felt after we did DVD 1 last week.
Why is that? One reason is undoubtedly the fact that exercises on this particular DVD are much closer to those we've been doing over the last year than are those on DVD 1. Probably most importantly, the pull-ups were absent from yesterday's workout.
Also, I've had some strange soreness in my left shoulder and may have injured something there (torn muscle, perhaps?). So I've been taking it very easy on exercises like shoulder flys and upright rows--which are the exercises that bring on the pain in that shoulder. I'm definitely doing some relaxed intensity in certain parts of these routines.
I also came to an important realization yesterday about the relatively low aerobic intensity of these workouts. They're much less aerobically intense than the shorter variants we've done over the last year or so, in large part because of relatively longer breaks inserted between exercises. These breaks are deliberately included as part of the routine's emphasis on tracking progress: participants are supposed to note down the number of repetitions and/or weight used after every exercise. That break offer a pretty good breather (though, for reasons I've discussed previously, I don't write down any of that stuff).
Anyway, DVD 3 has had a much less pronounced effect in the aftermath than did DVD 1. I'll be blogging next week about how the next DVD we'll do (DVD 9) feels after having had a long break from P90X.
On the cycling front, we could only do stationary bikes for one of our cycling days this week owing to weather conditions. The weekend looks to be nice weather though, so we hope to up the mileage.
Why is that? One reason is undoubtedly the fact that exercises on this particular DVD are much closer to those we've been doing over the last year than are those on DVD 1. Probably most importantly, the pull-ups were absent from yesterday's workout.
Also, I've had some strange soreness in my left shoulder and may have injured something there (torn muscle, perhaps?). So I've been taking it very easy on exercises like shoulder flys and upright rows--which are the exercises that bring on the pain in that shoulder. I'm definitely doing some relaxed intensity in certain parts of these routines.
I also came to an important realization yesterday about the relatively low aerobic intensity of these workouts. They're much less aerobically intense than the shorter variants we've done over the last year or so, in large part because of relatively longer breaks inserted between exercises. These breaks are deliberately included as part of the routine's emphasis on tracking progress: participants are supposed to note down the number of repetitions and/or weight used after every exercise. That break offer a pretty good breather (though, for reasons I've discussed previously, I don't write down any of that stuff).
Anyway, DVD 3 has had a much less pronounced effect in the aftermath than did DVD 1. I'll be blogging next week about how the next DVD we'll do (DVD 9) feels after having had a long break from P90X.
On the cycling front, we could only do stationary bikes for one of our cycling days this week owing to weather conditions. The weekend looks to be nice weather though, so we hope to up the mileage.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Getting cycling-season conditioning back, feeling modified P90X effects
Went for about a 13 mile ride today. I'm finally starting to feel--after a total of probably a couple hundred miles on the road so far this year--like I'm getting my cycling-season conditioning back. By that I mean that I'm recovering much more quickly from short bursts of intense energy output (e.g., on hills) and the burning sensation in the legs that results from lactic acid build-up when I do those bursts is also fading much more quickly. I was very happy to have those sensations of quicker recovery on our ride today--yipee!
And on the alternate modified P90X front (I think it's about time for an acronym here: how about am-P90X?), it's incredible how taxing these exercises are. We did DVD 1 last Thursday and I'm still feeling the effects. In fact, it's only today that I can do normal activities like raising my arms above my head, reaching into the fridge to grab something, or listing myself off the floor or out of bed, without serious discomfort in my lats/chest/triceps. I do still have some pain there, even as I sit and write this. But it's finally lessening.
It was really bothersome on Friday and Saturday and was maybe a little better on Sunday. That tells you how taxing this routine can be. And this is coming from someone who has been doing some fairly intense, twice-weekly upper-body exercise sessions for the last couple of years. I expect full recovery before Thursday--in time for our next am-P90X session.
And, on the weight front I've dropped 3 pounds. Interesting to see, as I've observed previously, whether I'll get down around 200 again this year at the height of cycling season.
And on the alternate modified P90X front (I think it's about time for an acronym here: how about am-P90X?), it's incredible how taxing these exercises are. We did DVD 1 last Thursday and I'm still feeling the effects. In fact, it's only today that I can do normal activities like raising my arms above my head, reaching into the fridge to grab something, or listing myself off the floor or out of bed, without serious discomfort in my lats/chest/triceps. I do still have some pain there, even as I sit and write this. But it's finally lessening.
It was really bothersome on Friday and Saturday and was maybe a little better on Sunday. That tells you how taxing this routine can be. And this is coming from someone who has been doing some fairly intense, twice-weekly upper-body exercise sessions for the last couple of years. I expect full recovery before Thursday--in time for our next am-P90X session.
And, on the weight front I've dropped 3 pounds. Interesting to see, as I've observed previously, whether I'll get down around 200 again this year at the height of cycling season.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Hello again, P90X!
We did the first in a series of alternate modified P90X sessions today--DVD 1, chest and back, to be precise. A pretty grueling workout.
I can understand now why I found the Power 90 and Arm Toner routines we were doing to be a lot more aerobic than the modified P90X routines we were doing earlier: it's because I can actually pretty much keep up with the performers on those videos.
With the video editing they do for these routines, if you are able to pretty much keep pace with the participants, you should be pretty winded throughout much of the routine. See, they're not actually doing all these exercises in such quick succession. Instead, "takes" from various studio sessions are being spliced together to make the full video.
With the P90X videos the same construction obtains, but the difference is that I can't keep up on these. The participants are able to do quite a few more reps on most exercises than I can.*
This is especially true of all types of chin-ups/pull-ups. I'd say that at my best when we were doing our modified P90X more regularly last year I could do 4 unassisted pull-ups/chin-ups. Now, I can only do 1 or 2. So I do what I can, then switch to assisted pull-ups/chin-ups.
I can do a lot more push-ups, but not as many as the P90X participants (probably 25-30 from a "cold start?" - don't know, since I've never tried to "max out" from a cold start). As a result, breaks between exercises are a lot longer for me when doing P90X routines than they are when we do Power 90 or Arm Toner routines. Thus, I have time to catch my breath and the whole thing ends up being less aerobic.
A further question is whether I should be disappointed about not being able to do more push-ups and/or chin-ups/pull-ups--especially given that I've been exercising regularly for a couple of years.
My answer is that, no, I'm not disappointed. I know I'm working hard and I know my muscles ache for some days after these exercises. And I'm gaining muscle tone and perhaps some mass. Those--especially the first--are my primary criteria for determining whether I'm getting the right kinds of benefits from these exercises. Number of reps is a pretty secondary concern for me.
Your thoughts on this matter? Feel free to offer them.
* Later reflection: it's true that the P90X participants can do many more of certain exercises than I can, as I've said. I've also realized on further reflection, however, that breaks between exercises on the P90X DVD's are longer than the breaks taken on the Power 90/Power Half Hour DVD's--deliberately so. Part of what they're so obviously trying to stress on the P90X videos is, after all, the importance of recording progress; so they deliberately take time between each exercise for the participants to write down their results (how man repetitions and/or how much weight they used).
I can understand now why I found the Power 90 and Arm Toner routines we were doing to be a lot more aerobic than the modified P90X routines we were doing earlier: it's because I can actually pretty much keep up with the performers on those videos.
With the video editing they do for these routines, if you are able to pretty much keep pace with the participants, you should be pretty winded throughout much of the routine. See, they're not actually doing all these exercises in such quick succession. Instead, "takes" from various studio sessions are being spliced together to make the full video.
With the P90X videos the same construction obtains, but the difference is that I can't keep up on these. The participants are able to do quite a few more reps on most exercises than I can.*
This is especially true of all types of chin-ups/pull-ups. I'd say that at my best when we were doing our modified P90X more regularly last year I could do 4 unassisted pull-ups/chin-ups. Now, I can only do 1 or 2. So I do what I can, then switch to assisted pull-ups/chin-ups.
I can do a lot more push-ups, but not as many as the P90X participants (probably 25-30 from a "cold start?" - don't know, since I've never tried to "max out" from a cold start). As a result, breaks between exercises are a lot longer for me when doing P90X routines than they are when we do Power 90 or Arm Toner routines. Thus, I have time to catch my breath and the whole thing ends up being less aerobic.
A further question is whether I should be disappointed about not being able to do more push-ups and/or chin-ups/pull-ups--especially given that I've been exercising regularly for a couple of years.
My answer is that, no, I'm not disappointed. I know I'm working hard and I know my muscles ache for some days after these exercises. And I'm gaining muscle tone and perhaps some mass. Those--especially the first--are my primary criteria for determining whether I'm getting the right kinds of benefits from these exercises. Number of reps is a pretty secondary concern for me.
Your thoughts on this matter? Feel free to offer them.
* Later reflection: it's true that the P90X participants can do many more of certain exercises than I can, as I've said. I've also realized on further reflection, however, that breaks between exercises on the P90X DVD's are longer than the breaks taken on the Power 90/Power Half Hour DVD's--deliberately so. Part of what they're so obviously trying to stress on the P90X videos is, after all, the importance of recording progress; so they deliberately take time between each exercise for the participants to write down their results (how man repetitions and/or how much weight they used).
Monday, May 3, 2010
Farewell, arm toner phase
I've been pretty lax about making blog entries lately, but give me a chance to reform my ways.
It all started with a last-minute trip I needed to make out east to get the new bike: obviously, it's difficult more difficult to blog--at least for me--when I'm away from home. Then, I needed to reassmeble to new bike. Plus, I got sidetracked by some other matters.
But I am still here and am still doing fitness. Our cycling mileage has gone down a bit as we get used to riding the new bike: this past weekend, for example, we only put in about 40-45 miles. That should continue to go up steadily, though, with increasingly nice weather.
And we've continued with our twice-weekly arm-toner/strength-training sessions. Even when we had to make runs out of town for one or a few days. We either used equipment we found and made due that way, or brought our own.
And like other routines headed by Tony Horton, we've enjoyed the arm toner phase. In fact, I already look forward to the time when we can go back to it. But, as I've forewarned in previous entries, the arm toner phase has now ended.
Effective starting this week, we'll start our summer routine. This will mean a lot more miles/time on the bike, and correspondingly less emphasis on upper-body strengthening.
We'll begin the new phase this week, and it will involve doing upper-body strengthening only one day (instead of two) per week. But we will be doing a more rigorous upper-body routine on this one day per week: we're going back to the 4 upper-body P90X routines we were using last spring and summer.
I've decided to christen this new phase the alternate modified P90X phase. What we'll end up doing is completing our fourfold P90X upper-body regime about once per month, rather than once every two weeks, as we had done last spring. So, over the course of the cycling season we'll probably do the whole fourfold cycle 4 or perhaps 5 times
I haven't yet worked out how/whether our ab/core routines, which we currently do twice a week, will change. But I'll be posting about that soon. More later on that.
It all started with a last-minute trip I needed to make out east to get the new bike: obviously, it's difficult more difficult to blog--at least for me--when I'm away from home. Then, I needed to reassmeble to new bike. Plus, I got sidetracked by some other matters.
But I am still here and am still doing fitness. Our cycling mileage has gone down a bit as we get used to riding the new bike: this past weekend, for example, we only put in about 40-45 miles. That should continue to go up steadily, though, with increasingly nice weather.
And we've continued with our twice-weekly arm-toner/strength-training sessions. Even when we had to make runs out of town for one or a few days. We either used equipment we found and made due that way, or brought our own.
And like other routines headed by Tony Horton, we've enjoyed the arm toner phase. In fact, I already look forward to the time when we can go back to it. But, as I've forewarned in previous entries, the arm toner phase has now ended.
Effective starting this week, we'll start our summer routine. This will mean a lot more miles/time on the bike, and correspondingly less emphasis on upper-body strengthening.
We'll begin the new phase this week, and it will involve doing upper-body strengthening only one day (instead of two) per week. But we will be doing a more rigorous upper-body routine on this one day per week: we're going back to the 4 upper-body P90X routines we were using last spring and summer.
I've decided to christen this new phase the alternate modified P90X phase. What we'll end up doing is completing our fourfold P90X upper-body regime about once per month, rather than once every two weeks, as we had done last spring. So, over the course of the cycling season we'll probably do the whole fourfold cycle 4 or perhaps 5 times
I haven't yet worked out how/whether our ab/core routines, which we currently do twice a week, will change. But I'll be posting about that soon. More later on that.
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