The FAF AFAP Digest
Core + Run, Tuesday, Mar. 10
by , March 10th, 2009 at 04:11 PM (3345 Views)
The FortressCore/Dryland:
Wasn't sore from weights yesterday. Of course, I didn't do too many lifts either. Weights seemed to have helped my drylands; feel quite a bit stronger and able to do more. Did my first push ups since college! (Well, I've tried them before, but they always bothered my shoulders, so I stopped.)
long arm crunches, 2 x 25
russian twists w/med ball, 2 x 50
iron monkeys, 2 x 15
decline reverse crunches, 2 x 25
back extensions w/25 lb weight, 2 x 25
total ab machine, 130 x 2 x 25
squat presses w/ yoga ball & raising med ball in air, 2 x 25
held the plank for 1:30
push ups, 2 x 15 (and felt easy!)
cavic exercise on yoga ball w/3 lb weights, 2 x 25
external rotators for RC, 10 x 2 x 15, each side
arm extensions w/3 lb weight (front, V, side), 2 x 15
prone scapular scrunches w/3 lb weights, 2 x 25
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5 mile trial run
Went on a trail run. Felt great today with some easy speed, no plods.Didn't feel my hip until the last 1/2 mile or so when I was running on asphalt.
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Chiro:
Saw my chiro today. Grilled him the whole time.
1. Hip issue: My issue is definitely in my left hip, it's not referred pain. He's pretty sure I re-strained it doing lunges. So no lunges for me until it's cleared up completely. Squats with very light weight and running are OK. I'm tighter than usual, probably because I haven't been stretching my hips as much. He encouraged a repeat of the ice bath. I'll try to wrap my brain around that.
2. Weights: He thinks the weights, especially working up to the heavier ones, have definitely helped my shoulders. My whole scapular area is stronger than before. All the strength in the shoulder/back/scapular area helps compensate for the internal instability. Fixing the muscular imbalance by doing more pushing and not all pulling is also a good thing. He agrees I am very buff -- more buff than when I started this "weight project" last May. He believes I am now more able to defend myself with Mr. Fort traveling so frequently. Oh joy.
3. Cross Fit: We discussed this briefly. He says it's the "hottest" new thing in fitness. He has many cross fit clients and among them are the cross fit trainers themselves. Found the latter interesting. In his experience, he sees cross fit athletes coming in with shoulder and achilles issues (sometimes also hip/glute issues like mine). He also said something called "Yoga Fit"
is becoming extremely popular in our metro area. This discipline combines yoga and heavier weights, and apparently attracts strong guys.
4. Protein: He's worried I might not be getting enough, as I find weights so tiring. He recommends 15-21 grams of protein after heavy lifting. Checked the high protein balance bars I've been eating. They have 15 grams, probably OK for shorter workouts.
5. Suit Competition: I was perusing Triathlete magazine for a few minutes while I was waiting. There was a wetsuit survey. Couldn't believe how much competition there is in the wetsuit market. The tech suit market is ridiculous by comparison. I hope the Speedo monopoly is a thing of the past.
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Cross Fit:
Spent some time perusing the site, www.crossfit.com. There is a huge amount of info there! Myriad articles on many topics. Ahelee also turned me on to the cross fit journal where WODs, among other things, are posted. WODs = workout of the day. Looked over some of them. Yikes.
Here's one:
5 x through:
20 pull ups
30 push ups
40 sit ups
50 squats
Don't think too many masters swimmers could do this! Well, maybe Chris or Jazz. I'm told that swimmers/tris/runners are generally considered weak at CF.
I like these types of exercises/drylands quite a bit, so wouldn't mind trying to work up to it gradually. I think cross fit is something you need to approach with caution and not go crazy right away.
(Jazzy, I did notice a WOD that consisted solely on 1 max lift deadlift repeats.)
Here's a cross fit swim workout that looked pretty fun to me and I may give it a go sometime:
200 IMs for time, done as:
3 x through:
10 air squats + 50 fly
10 pull outs + 50 back
10 push ups + 50 breast
10 crunches + 50 free
(didn't indicate an interval)
For Jazz:
This is what Cross Fit says about squatting:
Why Squat?
The squat is essential to your well-being. The squat can both greatly improve your athleticism and keep your hips, back, and knees sound and functioning in your senior years. Not only is the squat not detrimental to the knees it is remarkably rehabilitative of cranky, damaged, or delicate knees. In fact, if you do not squat, your knees are not healthy regardless of how free of pain or discomfort you are. This is equally true of the hips and back.
The squat is no more an invention of a coach or trainer than is the hiccup or sneeze. It is a vital, natural, functional, component of your being.
The squat, in the bottom position, is nature’s intended sitting posture (chairs are not part of your biological make-up), and the rise from the bottom to the stand is the biomechanically sound method by which we stand-up. There is nothing contrived or artificial about this movement.
Most of the world’s inhabitants sit not on chairs but in a squat. Meals, ceremonies, conversation,
gatherings, and defecation are all performed bereft of chairs or seats. Only in the industrialized world do we find the need for chairs, couches, benches, and stools. This comes at a loss of functionality that contributes immensely to decrepitude.
Frequently, we encounter individuals whose doctor or chiropractor has told them not to squat.
In nearly every instance this is pure ignorance on the part of the practitioner. When a doctor that
doesn’t like the squat is asked, “by what method should your patient get off of the toilet?” they are at a loss for words.
In a similarly misinformed manner we have heard trainers and health care providers suggest that the knee should not be bent past 90 degrees. It’s entertaining to ask proponents of this view to sit on the ground with their legs out in front of them and then to stand
without bending the legs more than 90 degrees. It can’t be done without some grotesque bit of contrived movement. The truth is that getting up off of the floor involves a force on at least one knee that is substantially greater than the squat. Our presumption is that those who counsel against the squat are either just repeating nonsense they’ve heard in the media or at the gym, or in their clinical practice they’ve encountered people who’ve injured themselves squatting incorrectly.
It is entirely possible to injure yourself squatting incorrectly, but it is also exceedingly easy to bring the squat to a level of safety matched by walking. In the accompanying article we explain how that is done.
On the athletic front, the squat is the quintessential hip extension exercise, and hip extension is the foundation of all good human
movement. Powerful, controlled hip extension is necessary and nearly sufficient for elite athleticism. “Necessary” in that without powerful, controlled hip extension you are not functioning anywhere near your potential. “Sufficient” in the sense that everyone we’ve
met with the capacity to explosively open the hip could also run, jump, throw, and punch with impressive force.
Secondarily, but no less important, the squat is among those exercises eliciting a potent neuroendocrine response. This benefit is ample reason for an exercise’s inclusion in your regimen.
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Next meet: Albatross Open
http://www.pvmasters.org/albatross.htm
Unlike Chris, I'm knocking off weights the week before, not one measly day. Will rest some next week. Nothing that will produce homicidal thoughts though.
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