It's here!

The new recumbent tandem trike came--actually last week. Unfortunately it was damaged slightly in shipping and isn't rideable until a key replacement part that's being sent, will arrive. But, of course, we have another bike to ride in the interim.

On that note, we've been doing mostly short rides on the stationary bike this month. After a very warm start, spring turned cool. And rather than ride in temperatures that are a bit chilly for us, we've decided to ride indoors on the stationary bikes. We'll have plenty of opportunity for hard riding outdoors soon, so why push things early in the year?

Conditioning-wise, I'm feeling pretty good. It's a little disconcerting to see that a hard, 10-15 mile ride leaves me feeling a bit sore the next day, but that's an after-effect to be expected this early in the season. On the bike, I feel great.

A little shoulder issue has cropped up recently--I think it's the rotator cuff again. And I'm pretty sure I know the source of it: we were out of town and using some exercise equipment in a motel. I'm pretty sure I aggravated my shoulder issue when using the overhead press machine--which was not very well configured for someone my height.

So I'm taking things a little easy for awhile here during our upper-body strength training. So, things are going pretty normally in our little fitness world.

Who was that buff, mystery senior?

I posted an image I found awhile back of an older guy who has a pretty incredible build. I had no idea who the fellow was, and was unsure even whether the photo was a Photoshop production or an unretouched photo. Well, recently, I found some further information on this fellow and on the source for the photo.

The fellow's name is (was? I think he might be deceased now) John Turner, and in the photo I posted, he is said to be 67 years old. The face certainly fits that age group. John Turner is one of the seniors written about in the book "Growing Old Is Not for Sissies" by Etta Clark (see excerpts from from that book at google books here).

I do not have that book and have never read it, but from what I can gather by looking on google books, the picture I posted of John Turner appears on the back cover. John Turner was apparently a psychiatrist who lived in California and who devoted a fair amount of attention to fitness.

And he apparently did not discontinue his fitness pursuits after that photo was taken (in 1985, I believe). I managed to find another photo of him at age 79. He's definitely not in the sort of shape he was at the tender young age of 67, but he looks about as good as a guy can at age 79. For reference, I'll post the two photos side by side below (no, he didn't really get that much smaller with age :):

John Turner at age 67	John Turner at age79

On that note, we old-timers are still at it. We've managed to get in a few road days on the bike with the unseasonably warm weather--short rides of not more than about 15 miles, but it's too early in the season to worry about going much further. We'll break into the longer days gradually.

I felt I'd lost quite a bit of conditioning over the winter, despite our regular, if limited, stationary bike riding. But after the second day, I felt good and strong. So I didn't lose much.

We're off to do one of our twice-weekly JIM sessions soon. More later.

Officially on the road

I missed posting last month (again!). We've been at our fitness pursuits, apart from a ca 10-day layoff at the end of Feb./beginning of March. Haven't been doing intervals on the stationary bike this winter but have been meaning to start, as the on-road biking season approaches.

Speaking of which, owing to the unusually warm weather, we had our first on-road days over the weekend. Put in about 25 miles total over 2 days. Pretty lame, but we don't intend to start the season with overly-long days. I got a good workout nonetheless, and even had a bit of E.I.A. (exercise induced asthma) afterward.

Long overdue update; details about JIM routine

It's high time I stopped neglecting this blog and did some posting. And what better day to start than the last day of the second month during which I've posted nothing? Yes, that was a facetious remark.

Part of the reason I haven't posted is that not a whole lot is happening. I mean that in a good sense. In the context of a fitness blog, the good sense has the meaning that our fitness routine hasn't changed much: we still work out 6 days most weeks, four on the stationary bikes (it's winter where we live) and two days of strength training.

If I could report anything new, it would be in the way of offering further details about our new, JIM (it's an acronym) strength-training routine. The acronym is in honor of the relative who helped me formulate the routine, by the way.

The routine uses some of the same exercises we've been engaging in to date and, like our other strength-training routines, is focused on the upper body. The way it differs is mainly in its simplicity: we're doing only five exercises (we'll add a sixth later), most of which are body-weight exercises. And we do five sets of each. The whole routine takes about a half hour.

The six exercises, in the order in which we execute them, are: 1. inverted rows; 2. bent-over rows; 3. push-ups; 4. dips; 5. overhead press. Sometime soon we'll add: 6. pull-ups. The first two sets are warm-ups, where we do less repetitions or use light weight. The last three sets are to be done with more weight and at maximum repetitions.

So far it's gone well. I like the variation it's introduced. We've also varied our--what I'll call "mid-section" exercises. Instead of doing what are typically called abdominal exercises, we're now doing what might be better labeled "core exercises." I'll post more detail about them later.

There, at long last, is the update I've needed for some time now to post here.

Cheap shot

Ok, this post is a cheap shot. Its only real purpose is to alleviate my conscience. It does that by offering me the comfort of knowing that the month of November did not really go by without me posting a single entry here. Is that lame, or what?

Oh well. We're taking a break from fitness at the moment--10 days worth. Cycling now is pretty much limited to short sessions on the stationary bikes. But we have inaugurated a new upper-body strength-training routine, one we developed with the help of a relative who has some experience in this area.

I call the routine "JIM," in honor of my relative, and will be posting more about it soon.

Back from the short tour

We got back from our short, independent (independent insofar as we did not join any group, but planned and rode the whole thing by ourselves) fall tour. We hit some really brutal hills in certain spots, which provided as much of a workout as an old body like this can handle: those were some serious intervals. Averaged about 50-55 miles a day. So we got in some good exercise and probably our last long mileage of the year--probably around 250 miles total over 5 days.

Kinda sad to call it quits for the year, but we had more than our share of mechanical issues during this trip. That made us a little less reluctant to end this one.

Thinking now of getting a different bike for touring--a recumbent tandem trike (something along the lines of what's in the photo above). They're pretty pricey, but it seems like having such a machine would resolve several issues we've faced.

Back to strength training tomorrow.

An uninformed assessment of CrossFit

CrossFit, a fairly popular fitness regimen, came up in a discussion with a relative the other day and I thought it would provide a good opportunity for a blog entry. The relative mentioned that he did not approve of CrossFit as a fitness regimen, which got me thinking about why I have not used it.

I should point out to begin with that I call this assessment "uninformed" because I have never tried CrossFit: my only exposure to it thus far has been through reading about it or about the exploits of those who have tried or are using it. Furthermore, I have no formal training in the fitness field and, as merely a casual fitness practitioner, am far from being in a position to offer anything approaching an authoritative appraisal of CrossFit--even if at a distance. I nonetheless do hold that I have perfectly valid reasons for not using it, though those reasons are quite unique to me and my own philosophy and situation. Your mileage may vary. Thus, the following.

I learned about CrossFit some years ago, when I was initially planning out my current fitness regime. Though it had some attractive features--namely the fact that the regime makes use of both calisthenics and weights--I quickly ruled it out as viable option for me.

One of the main reasons I decided against using it was because it incorporates lower-body exercises--not a bad thing in and of itself, of course, just bad for me because, as I've written previously, I get all the lower-body exercise I need and want from bicycling. Taking on other lower-body exercises would be apt to interfere with my cycling endeavors, and is therefore something I do not want or intend to do.

And, as I am not looking for lower-body exercises other than cycling, I am also not looking for other forms of aerobic activity than cycling. So, the aerobic activities that the CrossFit program entails were also something that holds no interest for me: I get all the aerobic conditioning I need and want from bicycling.

Another major reason I did not opt to get involved in this form of fitness is convenience: there is no CrossFit affiliate anywhere near where I live, so in order to participate in a group setting, I would have to drive (or perhaps bike?) some distance, and in my pragmatic considerations, having to drive anywhere in order to participate in fitness activities is a non sequitur: if one were to walk, run, cycle, or use some other means of self-propulsion to get there, wouldn't that serve as the only activity needed to attain fitness? Perhaps if there were an affiliate within a short walking distance I would have tried CrossFit. But barring that scenario it is simply quite impracticable for me.

And my reasons for not undertaking CrossFit on my own as opposed to at an affiliate, are also pragmatic: I could only see myself doing CrossFit at an affiliate because I do not own, nor do I wish to invest in, the equipment required to execute the routines. I don't have an olympic weight set and certainly don't want to purchase and store one, and I don't see how a number of the exercises they prescribe (squats, deadlifts) could be done without one. So Crossfit was ruled out for me on those scores as well.

Finally, I should point out that CrossFit seems to be a community-centered fitness regimen. In other words, it cultivates and seems heavily reliant on, a community of exercise enthusiasts who urge along one another. Now I certainly don't intend to demean communal fitness programs: I can see many advantages to having exercise partners and a social context for fitness endeavors. But for me this is not needed. I have an exercise partner and to date, we have been all we both need for inspiration to continue exercising. I certainly can't fault anyone who does not have a good exercise partner from seeking out one or more, but for me it is simply not needed. So, CrossFit loses on that score for my purposes as well.

This is a concise synopsis of my own rationale for foregoing the CrossFit regimen. These things having been said, I can certainly see some virtues in the program. First and foremost among these is undoubtedly the comradery aspect of the program: having a fitness partner or partners can be a huge incentive to, if not beginning an exercise regimen, certainly to sustaining one. The incorporation of body-weight exercises and more calisthenic-oriented ones such as rowing, as well as the wide selection of exercises they prescribe, seems also a big plus in my view (variation) even though, as I said, the lower-body exercises are a detraction for me.

None of the reasons I list as obstacles to involvement in CrossFit are likely to apply as they do in my circumstance to the situations of others. So this review, while spelling out what I consider to be valid and substantial reasons for not getting involved in CrossFit, will not likely serve as a deterrent for many who are considering taking up this regimen. But it may, at the least, provide some food for thought for those casting about for a fitness regimen and may thus, ultimately, be of service to someone. And this is, in part, why I offer my thoughts on the matter.

There you have my uninformed assessment of CrossFit.

Bike tour aftermath

In an attempt to rein in procrastination, I need to get this entry out of the way. It's been way too long since I posted anything here, yet things keep coming up that I want to write about and I keep not writing. So, here's to overcoming writer's block and procrastination.

The tour ended some time ago and it was a joy for us. Well, if you subtract getting rained on then cold afterward, two flat tires, searing heat, harsh headwinds, etc. But despite those things it was a joy. Why? Because part of the reward from bicycle touring is overcoming hardships and getting to your destination despite obstacles. But more on that later.

We did over 500 miles in about 10 days. And at the end of it, we were sad that we had to stop.

Well, we didn't actually stop altogether. We, of course, continue riding. We're in training now, in fact, for another, shorter, tour--just 5 days this time.

And the tour had its health benefits. My blood pressure after we got back was almost ideal: I saw 119 over 72 a couple of days after we finished. That's without any medicine. But it's since then gone up a bit.

I want more . . .

We continue our upper-body strength training--we're still in the arm toner phase. I did have to leave town for 10 days, so we took one of our breaks from fitness during that interval, not doing any cycling or strength training. And we're fine with that.

So there. I've broken the procrastination cycle and hopefully preempted writer's block.

Preparations for the upcoming bike tour

That's the headline for at least the last month. We've been training for our upcoming tour, which starts toward the end of the month.

We put in just short of 200 miles a couple of weekends ago. That was the culmination of our training. We're now tapering off to get ourselves rested up prior to the start.

So we've put in lots of miles these weeks. We've been riding in the heat so as to try and acclimatize ourselves to conditions we may be facing while on the road. And we'll still be putting in miles in the coming days, though shorter ones.

We've slacked off a bit here and there on our upper-body strength training. For example we missed doing our last session. And prior to that we did some half sessions, i.e., we did only part of the arm toner routine we're using at this point in the year.

But that happens. Sometimes the session has to get shortened or canceled. In this case, we're cutting back a bit on upper-body work so as to focus more on cycling. But in the fall/winter months it ends up that our hardest workouts are usually the upper-body sessions, while cycling (stationary bikes) is less intense.

This is our fitness philosophy. Sometimes you miss workout sessions, and that's ok. Sometimes one form of fitness overshadows another, and that's ok too. Flexibility in our fitness pursuits is what we're after.

It's time to celebrate!

Ok, there's a bit of hyperbole in the title of today's entry. You see, nothing particularly eventful happened today. Or yesterday. Or the day before. Or, probably, tomorrow or the next day. So, what's to celebrate about?

Well, it occurred to me the other day as I was thinking about what I'm doing fitness-wise and how long it would last. Won't I get bored with it at some point, won't it become a burden? Will I give up this regular fitness regime and go back to an active, as opposed to a very active, lifestyle? I hope not. I've sustained this regime for some time now, and I'm trying to organize things such that it can be sustained indefinitely--as long as I'm still alive and physically capable.

And that's what got me thinking about celebrating. I should be celebrating, I thought to myself, the fact that I've sustained my current regular fitness regime for over 3 years now. It's an accomplishment, and one I should not be taking lightly. Perhaps I could think of today as my 39th (month) anniversary of staying on a regular, year-round exercise regimen. Hooray for me! Keep up the good work!

On other fronts, I'm experimenting with electric assist for my bike--this in the hope that it will facilitate some long-distance bicycle touring such as I did in my younger years. "What!?" you may say, "you're talking electric wheels on a fitness site?!" All I can say in response now is that I'll have more to say about that in a subsequent entry and that, yes, I will address how it has/will impact my fitness endeavors--not a whole lot, as you will see.

And I continue looking out for new fitness routines to augment our upper-body strength training regimen. Nothing major to report on that front at the moment, but when something newsworthy develops I'll post about it here.