What Was Your Work Out Today?

Pull Day 1

Single arm row.
3 drop sets
Each set 20/12/7

Barbell row drop set
4 sets. 10/10/10 slow

Lat pulldown V bar ascending, then drop sets.
4 sets. Ascending 10/10/10, descending, all to failure.

rear delt machine
Partials at the top, full ROM, partials at the bottom.
3 sets 20/20/20

Barbell shrugs.
3 sets 50/50/50

Poor man's DB preacher curls ascending and descending.
3 sets, ascending 15/15/15. Descending to failure.

Cable rope curls drop set.
4 sets. 30 reps with 3 drops each set.

Morning bootcamp, lunch 5K run and evening badminton...

Another hour row. Again shooting for just a couple of things -- work on form (unstrapped) and have a consistent stroke throughout while not letting HR drift too high. Well, got two out of three, LOL. HR drifted up to nearly 78% of max at the end. Not too bad but higher than I like on steady state days.

Pace was consistent around 2:30 @ 20 SPM (strokes per minute) the entire row. So much so that I got about as close to an "OCD" row as I'll likely get. That's where all your splits are identical, your Stroke Rate is the same for every split and the meters all are identical for every split. All were within around 2 meters +/- for every split (12 minute splits for an hour row). 12,002 meters.

Drag factor around 119. Will likely have to lower SR or DF on next attempt to try to keep HR between 65% and 70% max (ideal for me for "easy" days). This was too hard because I have a legit hard day tomorrow.

But this was encouraging for me. More consistent stroke, maintained for an hour without breaking form too much, at a higher Drag Factor.

Did a bit of plan-rearranging today so I could fit in some of the workout(s) I missed out on yesterday because of having an unexpectedly weird day. Today would normally be a bike/core day, but nope.

2k+2' CD on the rowing machine, for a total of 2351m at pretty-easy 2:33 pace/23spm. 90% Z3. Inspired by Mike, I did this piece feet out (my term for what he describes as unstrapped).

Little over half an hour strength training (dumbbell supersets).

10k+3' CD stationary bike, for a total of 11,068m, about half Z3, rest below.

In the dumbbell routine, everything's at 3 sets now, and most things have started increasing reps or weight. Usual pattern is to go up in reps, eventually increase weight but drop reps back some again, after which start to go up in reps again at the new weight. Each off-season, when I start up strength training again, I'm fairly cautious because of imbalances and some pre-existing joint problems, so I'm adjusting based on feel. If a joint feels unstable somewhere in a movement, but I want to increase challenge, I'd prefer to increase reps until the joint feels stable-ish at that weight. I don't normally post details, because what I'm doing is idiosyncratic and not a sensible/good model for anyone else, to say the least.

Planning some tweaks to my usual schedule on Friday and Saturday, too, so I get a 3rd strength workout in with adequate recovery.

PPL 3
legs.

This one was rough, had to do a couple substitutions.

Leg extension machine.
10 count positive, 10 count hold, 10 count negative
4 sets 20/20/20/20

Split squat... I couldn't do this with weight. My knees sounded like bubble paper.
3 sets 20/20/20/ each leg

Leg press 3 way, feet together, toes out, regular.
4 sets 30/30/30/30

Lying leg lifts toes out (calves flexed), regular, stiff leg raises
4 sets 20/20/20/30

Calf machine
Rest pause century set
initial 15 reps, pause failure ect.

Yesterday was my strength training routine, which is currently only upper body due to a muscle pull in my quad in November. I had the thought, "Am I ready to start adding some lower body stuff?" Got my answer from the elliptical today: Nope. Not ready.

I did 45 min. at a relatively slow pace, with about 33 min. in HR Zone 3, the rest in Zone 2. It felt good, but when I was done I definitely felt a little "jelly legged" in the quads. I think that's my quads telling me that, at this point in time, the elliptical is enough strength training in the legs for me. I'll get there eventually. Slow and steady....

33' yoga/stretch foam roll before breakfast.

6729m machine rowing, 3 x (2k on 2' off/CD) as usual. Decided to push a little harder midway through 2nd 2k, ended up with 2k pieces at 2:33.7/21spm, 2:30.8/20spm, 2:25.0/21spm. Still sub-max, ended kind of high moderate?, 5:15 at Z4 in the last piece, 19:40 Z3 (over half the workout), remainder below. Peak at 155bpm. Mostly focusing on relaxing unneeded muscles, heels down first, keep the arms cables while the legs work (no elbow bend).

17' core exercises.

Haven't decided whether to double up strength & core tomorrow to end the week with 3 of each, or skip core and just do the rescheduled strength, after having so little workout time Wednesday.

Kind of struggling - an annual recurring event! - with the Winter workout routine. I just keep telling myself "this is not a choice, this is a thing I do", but that's marginally effective. There's another Concept 2 Challenge on in January, and I'm signed up, but it's a wonky format for me, so not very motivating. I may slack off in February for a while, to whack myself over the head with the reminder that I quickly feel crummy if I don't do workouts - cardio especially.

@dralicephd, I hear what you're saying. I've learned that there's only so much, and certain kinds, of additional leg stress I can fit into a schedule that's focused on rowing with a dash of cycling, for me as an aging woman with fairly trashed knees already.

Rowing/cycling is enough to keep the relevant muscle groups in reasonable condition (according to my needs/preferences, which are definitely sub-elite). I try to do some things in Winter that give a bit of work to lower posterior chain (deadlift, leg curl to bridge on exercise ball, some kettlebell things sometimes . . . .), since those muscle groups are a relatively underutilized in row/cycle. I don't usually try to add anything quad focused, because it screws up recovery more than it helps my aims, unless I'm super careful.

There's some adequate-ish balance of challenge, recovery, injury avoidance, fun, muscle-group balance, etc., in there somewhere, given the time I'm willing to put in . . . I keep looking for it. 😉

@MikePfirrman: Yes, the so-seductive fly and die, a machine rowing classic. Feels good, for a while. 😆 At least it was 'only' a workout, not a race piece? 😉

My first coach put a lot of emphasis on personalized target splits for everything. (Advice I admit I now largely ignore, since I'm noodling at easy paces more than training these days.) I think that, as a collegiate coach, that that split-focused, testing-focused approach was helpful on the psychological side with the younger rowers, as well as for framing training. They weren't easy splits (except on intentionally easy base paces), but at least it tended to avoid fly & die (discouraging in that age group) . . . or clearly let the rower know that's what they'd done when going out harder than recommended.

So seductive, going out hard. Good plan, to back it off when it's not going as one would wish. 👍

First week of winter warrior challenge done. Completed fairly short outdoor walks or runs each day. 20 miles total. Not a daunting effort, mostly just gaining the discipline to get out there even when cold, dark or rainy.

Gym session this am. Lots of stability and balance work while moving weights. Also continuing basic TGU's (very light weight) since my trainer is driving home the point that posture is key, especially as weight increases. Cold here today, 15 degrees, so will head out later for a few miles of run/walk on a snowy trail.

Rest day, so no workout to report today (unless you count cleaning and taking down Christmas decorations).

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I try to do some things in Winter that give a bit of work to lower posterior chain (deadlift, leg curl to bridge on exercise ball, some kettlebell things sometimes . . . .), since those muscle groups are a relatively underutilized in row/cycle. I don't usually try to add anything quad focused, because it screws up recovery more than it helps my aims, unless I'm super careful.

This is where my thoughts were going also. I've been thinking about trying (gently!) some hamstring/glut stuff and see if I can get some lower body training in without putting too much stress on the quads. I will just have to see how it goes.

We had a group of ten trail runners doing loops around a local reservoir this morning. It was raining lightly during the run. Terrain was mostly packed snow, but there were also some icy spots, so trail shoes and spikes were standard wear.

I planned on running a single loop, but got talked into doing 2 loops for 6.8 miles. Two women in the group were planning to cover a full 26.2 over the snow. I said "No Thanks" to their generous offer.

~10 min. on elliptical to warm up then I mixed up the strength training today (again, my routine is minimal to prevent repeating injuries). We'll see how this works for me.

incline pushups (increased reps)
dumbbell rows (increased reps)
bridges on a ball
crunches with a ball

I just want to say that I'm so happy with my current ability to consistently do any sort of pushups. There was a time that even the physical therapist gave up on my ability to do those. Apparently, I just needed 3 months of elliptical workouts to get the joint stabilized enough to do them. Exercise! It works!

Lots of yard work today so only an easy hour on the rower.

Push 2

DB flat bench
5 sets in total
12 reps +2 drops, 3 sets
2 more sets with 30 reps each

Machine fly ascending and descending. Seat up all the way and leaned back to partially mimic decline.
3 sets, 10 reps, go up, failure, repeat X3
On the descent to failure X3

Partial DB fly, small incline SS with wide arm push up.
3 sets. 20/failure

Partial DB side lateral.
3 sets + 3 drops increasing weight each drop.
30 reps initial, failure each drop.

Bus driver SS with front raises and front press.
3 sets 20/20/20

Rope extension, partial bottom, partial top, full ROM.
4 sets all movements 30 reps.

Close grip bench.
3 sets.
20 reps + 2 drops each set.

I'm a bit sore from the added strength training I did yesterday, so I went slow with cardio today. I did about 30-35 minutes, keeping it in HR Zone 2 the whole time.

Leg day! Crushed it and paying for it now haha