What Was Your Work Out Today?
Replies
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Decided to run at the gym this morning, rather than heading out for another run in the cold. Did some rolling and hip mobility work, then an easy paced 5k. Back on the bike for a longer ride tomorrow.
I'm hesitant to ask, but are there any unusual hip mobility exercises you've found helpful, @Djproulx , that you could tell me the name of or give a link to, and not have that be too much trouble?
I pretty much know and do various common piriformis, low back, and hip flexor stretches, side leg raises, pelvic clocks (not the device, the Pilates-ish thing), have good hammie flexibility so don't emphasize that. I've added a variation on the doorway banana stretch because of some lateral tightness (hold door frame with hands, feet a bit away, and relax the hip away from the door in a banana shape to stretch outer hip).
I really like one a physical therapist gave me, that I don't have a name or reference for, a little hard to describe. It involves a very soft (on partly inflated) roughly 8" diameter ball (Softgym brand). That goes on the front part of a straight chair, where one sits on it nice and upright, then shifts weight in 3 planes (relaxed movement using gravity, not powered with muscles). First is shifting weight alternating left and right sides, staying straight, allowing the "down" side to lengthen (pelvis is sort of rotating in a plane that cuts right to left through the body). Next is forward and back weight shift, also relaxed and mostly straight, but letting the pelvis rotate in a anterior/posterior way. Last is a little more powered, sitting centered, turning to aim belly button at one leg then the other, rotating the pelvis in the 3rd plane.
@Ann, you may already know about these, but here's a couple movements I like, particularly after I've foam rolled a bit. The first is one that I know as the "90/90" movement. A cycling coach observed my lack of hip mobility and suggested this movement.
I perform the exercise as a slightly more continuous movement than shown in the clip, starting with my left leg out front at a 90 degree angle (quad to calf) and my right leg out to the right with the same angle bend. The movement is to the right, rolling the feet in unison to end up in the starting position, but with the right leg out front and the left leg now at 90 degrees to my left. I hold the pose at each end of the movement, allowing myself to deepen into the stretch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLuvQCTPrcY
The second one is a bear crawl sit through movement. The woman in this clip performs the sit through while crawling, but my trainer has me do these while remaining in a stationary position. The other difference is that I don't typically do the back bend, instead I extend my "sit through" leg straight out, touching my heel to the floor, then return and sit through on the other side. This movement is popular with mixed martial arts fighters, who need to be able to move their lower bodies while the upper body often remains locked in place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVlR8UypuRA
Hope this helps.
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Thank you so much, @Djproulx: I will definitely give those a test drive, and I anticipate they'll be helpful.
I have some OA in hip joints, and have been working on strengthening weak points around them, but of course that can cause some tightness that limits mobility (on top of some weird tightness I have from "too much" rowing - as if there were such a thing! - and too little of balancing activity types).
I appreciate your taking the time!0 -
Did my longer ride today on zwift. 70 minute ride to work on aerobic endurance. 16 minute blocks toggling between 70.3 distance power output, then dropping back slightly to IM power output, (10 watts lower). Not an intense effort, but the kind of longer grind that is needed to build efficiency and endurance. Will repeat this workout over the next few months and eventually stretch the duration out to mimic a 70.3 bike split distance.2
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Thank you so much, @Djproulx: I will definitely give those a test drive, and I anticipate they'll be helpful.
I have some OA in hip joints, and have been working on strengthening weak points around them, but of course that can cause some tightness that limits mobility (on top of some weird tightness I have from "too much" rowing - as if there were such a thing! - and too little of balancing activity types).
I appreciate your taking the time!
My pleasure. Hope you find these useful.1 -
garmin coach workout to get to 10k. Stride repeats. Did 10, then was wasted. Total of 3km run in a starting thunder storm. Glad I went out, glad I was back before the weather got really bad.2
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Elliptical 190 minutes for 13.1 miles2
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Back... Brutal for me...
t-bar (free standing with regular bad) rows
2 sets 100 reps each.
V-bar pull downs
4 sets 15 reps each
V-bar rows
Bent all the way forward 3 sets 20 reps each
Strict 3 sets 20 reps each
shrugs 3 sets 20 reps each
standing DB rows
4 sets 20 reps each
Standing ez bar rows
close over hand grip SS with close underhand grip
2 sets 20 reps each
Same but wide grip
2 sets 20 reps each.
Pull ups for lats until failure.
then I jumped up and did slow negative until failure.
It was about 3 lol.2 -
7-8 am:
Mobility - (30m)
Conditioning - (20m)
E2MOM
KettleBell Swings (16kg)
5-5/4-4/3/3-2/2-1/1 x 10 (300)
3-8 pm:
Easy Strength - (5m)
Wheel - 1x10
Pushup - 1x10
Row - 1x10
Swing - 1x10
Squat - 1x10
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45 min. elliptical (on the Zone 2 and 3 border most of the time) followed by some strength training.
The usual: pushups/rows supersets and abs. Today I decided to add legs back in with some body weight squats (focus on form/no injuries) and yoga ball bridges. We'll see how that sits in the joints and muscles. Cross your fingers.
Geeky Pro Tip: If you workout while watching a rocket launch, you can use the countdown clock as timer and stopwatch.
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Possibly a walk this evening, though I seem to have bruised my left heal or something somehow...don't really know how or how that's even possible if I'm not kicking something or jumping around. I had planned to do a Zwift ride this morning before work, but I did a ride yesterday that was a bit more than I was expecting...I picked a shorter route of just over 8 miles thinking an easy Sunday ride, but didn't pay attention to the elevation gain and a good chunk of it was up hill. I'm pretty under-trained at the moment and it left me with no legs. Pretty tired too...wife had to wake me up when she realized it was 6:30 and I hadn't come out of the bedroom yet...I'm usually up around 5:30 and I was still sleeping like a rock at 6:30 this morning.
I decided to bag my plans of running a couple of the structured training programs on Zwift. It was just going to be way too rigid with everything else going on right now, so I'm just riding and throwing in a structured cycling workout here and there. Ultimately, I think I'll have plenty of volume built up to still be able to do my two 25 mile rides in Santa Fe in May.
Planning to start bike commuting to work on Fridays, but it needs to get a little warmer out...I have gear that's good to about 40* and we're still in the high teens or low 20s in the mornings right now.2 -
Slept in and rested. Will be playing badminton in the evening3
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Got the back adjusted on Thursday evening and made it more tolerable, but it was still pretty rough on Friday and Sunday. Other than walking my dogs on Saturday for their long walk, that was about the only thing I did -- so missed two scheduled workouts.
Went back at it gingerly today -- 30 in the LateralX (elliptical/stepper that also goes laterally) and then 30 really light on the AD Pro (Assault Bike). Super easy especially on the bike just to gauge how sore I'd be. Felt OK after. Not 100% by any means but not bad either.
Won't be doing any strenuous lifting or rowing likely for around a week.
@Djproulx - I tried that one hip flexibility video to warm up today. Didn't have too much difficulty with it but it was a decent warmup before the elliptical. Good video!
I do a lot to try to stay as maintained as I can be but I have a feeling that the right knee (the one that needs replaced eventually) is just so much shorter/weaker than the other knee that the imbalance eventually catches up to me. But the Catch-22 is, if I didn't workout, it gets even weaker and more out of balance.1 -
6699m machine row, picked up the pace a little again, 2:29.6 at 18spm, all but around 5' pretty evenly split between Z3/Z4, peak at mid-Z4 (around 77% reserve, 85% max). (I have to admit, the reserve metric makes more sense to me in RPE terms.)
My problem with the slower rowing pace to stay mostly Z2 last week was that properly suspending (even to a small but still perceptible extent) has an energetic cost for me that heads into Z3, and I feel like it's wiring in bad habits if I don't feel the suspend. In theory, I can reduce rating (spm) to reduce energy required, but I can only drop that so far at a drag factor that I like without making drive-to-recovery ratio into something ridiculous. (I like a DF that feels in the range of boat-y, is non-punitive to knees and low back.) Today's row was a little faster than strictly needed to feel technically OK to me, but I feel like going slower than maybe mid-2:30s isn't a good idea right now. We'll see. 🤷♀️
Followed the row with 46' dumbbell supersets.
@Djproulx, I tried both the hip mobility videos, though I'm not sure I've quite got the sit-through one right yet. I like the 90/90 one quite a lot: Parts of it are difficult, so I can feel that I need it. 😆 Thank you for taking the time!
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Gym session this morning. After warmups, did three rounds of various movements: KB squats, skullcrushers, seated dumbbell back flys, then used sliders for hamstring curls(holding bridge position, slide feet out and back in) slider body saws, etc. Then finished each round with a push and pull on the sled. I'm trying to push/pull the sled and perform TGU's 1-2x's per week, since those movements hit so many of the muscle groups needed for endurance sports performance. That said, I got a little overzealous on my final round, trying to make the last sled push a run, seizing the left calf muscle. Ouch.
@Mike: Glad the video made sense. I spend so much time with hips in a straight forward plane of motion(running, pedaling, sitting at a desk) that I need to work on keeping mobile. I suspect rowing may be similar in that regard. The other thing I focus on is loosening the hip flexors to allow greater ROM to optimize glute engagement and drive. Been doing this type of work lately in support of that effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEopQHFz_08&t=10s
@Ann: Pleased that you found the videos helpful. Regarding the crawl/sit through: Again, I do these from a stationary starting point in bear crawl position. If "sitting through" with the left leg, from the four point bear crawl pose, I twist to the right, bringing my left leg under my body, then straighten it out ending up with my left heel on the ground while facing upward in a bridge type pose. As I'm moving through to the "sit through" position, I bring my right arm in and hold it close to my chest.
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(Snip good stuff, for reply length.)
@Ann: Pleased that you found the videos helpful. Regarding the crawl/sit through: Again, I do these from a stationary starting point in bear crawl position. If "sitting through" with the left leg, from the four point bear crawl pose, I twist to the right, bringing my left leg under my body, then straighten it out ending up with my left heel on the ground while facing upward in a bridge type pose. As I'm moving through to the "sit through" position, I bring my right arm in and hold it close to my chest.
Thank you for that description. One of the things my brain is sub-par at is visual learning . . . which is a really dysfunctional way to be, when it comes to physical skills, but I try **. Learning through words is more viable for me, despite being less theoretically effective for physical skills. 🙄
The sit-through video was extra hard for me, because I can't watch it (actively) while actually doing the move, because of the changes of orientation. I live alone, so there's no one here to watch the video and "coach" me.
Having your written description will help, I'm sure. Thank you very much!
** Yes, there are things I have done and still do, to try to improve this cognitive deficit. Some impact, no full cure. 🙄
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Heading to the weight room here in about 10-15 minutes for my lunch workout. Zwift this evening when I get home...haven't determined yet if I'm going to do a structured workout or just ride...probably just ride for 30-45 minutes.2
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Morning bootcamp.. was a little bit of a struggle1
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@DjProulx - yes, with rowing and only Assault Bike, easy to get Piriformis. That's actually why we got the LateralX, which is a great piece of equipment if it doesn't break down (Bowflex is horrible about fixing things and Customer Service).
I managed to do five or so supersets today. Nothing crazy -- pullups, body weight squats and pushups. Then, at lunch, did 15 sets of 30/90 sprints on the AD Pro (Assault Bike). Did manage to push up to 750 Watts on the Assault Bike but only for around 10 seconds at a time. C/D on the LateralX (lateral Stepper/Elliptical) for 30 minutes. Around an hour total but real easy on the last half hour.1 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »at lunch, did 15 sets of 30/90 sprints on the AD Pro (Assault Bike). Did manage to push up to 750 Watts on the Assault Bike but only for around 10 seconds at a time.
15 rounds? Whew, that will make you sweat! And 750w for 10 seconds is no joke.
I usually only do 4-5 rounds and that's enough, lol.1 -
Did my Elliptical today for 280 minutes for 18.14 miles and 2 hours later had a nail appointment. While getting that done my legs started to ache and throb. So I asked if this one girl had time for a pedicure afterwards. She did and with the massage and hot stone massage the achiness was gone. It was a great treat!3
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Just stationary bike today, 11,101m easy Z2 (at about one-tenth of Mike's peak power output 😆).5
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Super easy stuff today. Did 50 minutes of LateralX (for 30) and then AD Pro for 20. Honestly didn't break a sweat, intentionally. Just wanted to move a bit and keep the hips moving.
Chiropractor thinks I have pelvic torsion, which makes sense. Didn't feel like a herniated disc -- I've had those too. Likely from my legs being so uneven in strength. Right leg, due to the bad knee, is literally around half strength. So when I push off with the legs on the rower, I tend to be very unbalanced. Just something will happen from time to time until I either get expensive injections or, more likely, the knee replaced.3 -
Egads... I'm super sore from Monday's foray into increased strength training (and yesterday's marathon standing fest that is my job). Anyhoo... I almost skipped today entirely because everything hurts, but thought that maybe some movement and increased circulation might move out some of that lactic acid. So, an easy 45 min. on the elliptical at Zone 2 for me today. I'm glad I did it. It felt good to move. I'm still sore, but at least I don't feel so stiff now.3
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Gym day. Foam rolling, warmups, etc, then two twenty minute circuits, repeating 4 movements in each 20 min round: First round: split squats w/dumbells, pushups, sled push/pull return, mtn climbers. Second round: TRX pullups from seated position, KB deads, rope slams, dynamax crunches (lying on back, feet in deadbug position, placing DM ball on shins, then removing it and holding overhead while reclining to the ground w/ball overhead, then replacing ball on shins= 1rep)
Hour ride on Zwift with tri club friends set for tonight. This will probably be a high intensity effort.3 -
Just ran an hour. Longest run in a very long time. Not furthest (it wasn't far) but longest. Nearly threw up afterwards. Lets be honest, I had food poisoning earlier this week. So...4
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An hour of cardio today again but pushed (just a bit) harder than yesterday. 40 minutes on the Assault Bike (around low 150s Watt Avg) and then 20 on the LateralX, keeping HR under 65% max on that.
Missing my patio workouts on the rower as it was 72 and sunny today at lunch. Just gorgeous outside. I only have around 3 to 4 months left outside before I have to move it to the garage for the hot Summer months (next to the Swamp Cooler).2 -
Kind of in a mood today, thought about skipping working out (which I did, yesterday). Instead, did double the usual length stationary bike, 22,236 pseudo-meters, albeit very easy, just barely slipped into the low end Z3 for 3'-ish. Later in the evening, 47' dumbbell supersets.4
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I ran 7.45km last night. And it totally killed me. Doing something like this right after a stomach bug or food poisoning is probably not a good idea. But hey, made it.5
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Joined my tri club pals for a group ride on Zwift last night. Did some decent climbing, gaining 1600ft in only 17.2 miles. The group chatter using the Discord app helped distract us from the suffering.
Today I decided that my break from the pool was over. Did an easy paced swim, since I'm really not in any kind of swim shape. 1500 yards total.
Gym session and trail run planned for tomorrow.3 -
Back feeling not 100% but better. Did lighter supersets this morning (really light on the lifts for the legs -- 52 lb KB deadlifts and step ups onto my Plyo Box) followed by a 12 X 2 minutes/3 minute light pedaling hour workout on the AD Pro at lunch.
Played games with the HR trying to beat or meet the last round. First one was 80% max and worked up to 91% max on last one. Had a nice consistent ladder going up until the 10th one -- I hit 90% on 3 or 4 and went back down to 89% on the 10th because I was a bit gassed and muscle fatigue. Recovered and hit 90% and 91% on 11th and 12th. Held around 290 to 300+ Watts for most of the intervals. Not sure exactly because the AD Pro doesn't do great at storing longer interval averages (it only goes up to 99 second intervals and doesn't separate interval work from rest work in the averages).
Around 900 calories on the hour.
Oh, and Who-Dey! (I'm a life long suffering Bengals fan that's finally got to see them in the SuperBowl again after a 36 year absence!).1
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