What Was Your Work Out Today?

At lunch I did a round of 8 kettlebell exercises, taking 15 net minutes. Managed to get my HR up to 178 when doing Turkish get-ups (2x5. Yay, getting better). In the evening I decided to do another round, and then yet another one. And now my body has turned into custard. Was fun though.

Machine row, 3 x (2k on, 2' off/CD); moderate (21% Z4, 60% Z3, remainder below); 6754m overall in 36' including the row in/out and CD parts; 2k pieces averaged 2:28.8 pace, 20spm, 107W. Pretty consistent splits, slight negative splits across the 3 pieces, but only by a second or two in pace.

Watching the one-stroke force curve, working on steeper left up-slope by getting heels down quickly, smooth curve, with a few distractions from that to keep meters per stroke from dropping too far (patience on slide, strong drive, fast hands/swing).

6K X 2 again today w/ a one minute rest just to let HR settle. Around a 2:25 pace average. A bit faster as I accidentally strapped in the last set. I've been rowing all of these steady state days unstrapped but forgot and strapped in, making the second set a bit faster.

Let HR drift a bit too high on the 2nd one -- got up to around 77% max, too high for an "easy" day. It will likely show up tomorrow in the form of fatigue when I'm supposed to do the hard day. I'm supposed to do a 1K TT on the rower this month. Perhaps I'll just do that and then some lighter work on the rower along with my lifting tomorrow.

Though short, a 1K Timed Test takes a lot out of you (but less than the 8 X 500m intervals I normally do on Friday).

45 minute virtual cycling on my Keiser.

Went for a little jog around the hood..

Ended up doing my 1K Timed Test (TT) for the online indoor rowing club today. It was this month's "ITC" -- inner club competition. Just a measuring stick among your group.

I haven't really pushed a 1K in a long time so I had no idea what to stive for. I just did a 1:52ish 500m recently but 1000m is a world different, so I was thinking I could do around a 1:55 pace and I'd be happy with that.

Ended up doing a 3:44.6 (1:52.3 pace). Was told to do a "fly and die" for best time on this one so went all out on the beginning and did around a 1:42 or so for the first 200m and just held on after that. Nearly rose to 2:00 pace at one point and reigned it back toward the last 400m to hold around a 1:55. These are actually short but quite brutal.

HR said it hit 101% of max on this one but I have a feeling it was jumpy and erratic today. I just replaced the battery a couple of months ago but they were older batteries. Might replace it again. You don't want to see 101% toward the end of one of these -- makes you think the worst!

I did some C/D rows of 1000 and stopped a few times and manually checked HR and it seems the HRM was off by a good 10 beats, so I'll switch batteries before I assume it's the heart acting funny.

Anyway, pleased with this time and even got all my lifts in and 4K more meters on the rower in addition to the 1K TT.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Higher moderate intensity, subjectively, I guess . . . 40% Z4, 49% Z3, remainder below. Topped out at 156bpm, mid Z4. Around the last 3' of the 2nd piece were at 220 minus age or above, so that ought to be reassuring to folks who think that's a number where everyone's heart explodes or something, rather than just a poor approximation of an average statistical HRmax. (It's about what I'd estimate to be 86% max, for me, or 80% reserve - not massively high.)

Haha! A HR of 184 during workout would make me 12 years younger, assuming I hit the maxHR there 😜

dralicephd wrote: »

Yesterday: 45 min. on the elliptical (split time between Zone 2 and 3) followed by squats (increased reps), bridges, crunches, and some super light weight shoulder stuff. Everything felt good.

Today: One hip joint feels weak and "clicky". Ugh... Seriously, it's like one step forward and two steps back over here! (Or no steps at all, because this middle-aged lady should probably sit down with an ice pack.)

I'm wondering if some of my joint issues are perimenopause hormone related. I've had crazy hormonal swings this week (the hot flashes and insomnia have been OUT OF CONTROL), and I know that declining estrogen can sometimes exacerbate inflammatory pain. ???? Who knows. (Cue The Rolling Stones: "What a draaaaaag it is, getting old....")

@dralicephd:

Consider the actual alternative to getting old. Hint: It's isn't staying young, at least not chronologically!

I hear you on the downsides, though: I am 66, after all, been in menopause for over 20 years now (chemotherapy triggered it, then I took anti-estrogen drugs for 7.5 years - so I definitely hear you).

Two things: Consider whether your stretching/mobility/foam-rolling routine might be improved, better targeted. I don't have specifics for you, because my personal pain points are different.

From physical therapists, I've learned there are specific exercises my personal body shouldn't do - example, lateral raises, because shoulder impingement. My upper chest/underarm scar tissue (from the mastectomy surgery & radiation on top of it) requires self-massage and stretching, or pain/injuries increase.

I see an osteopath (musculoskeltal specialist, university professor in university clinic), get exercises and other interventions from him, in addition to helpful manipulative treatment. I'm on a regular schedule that (happily) my health insurance covers, for regular tune-ups. One thing he suggested was pelvic clocks, related to my specific hip pain (OA in that zone, maybe related).

In non-pandemic times, I saw a sports-trained massage therapist (MT), got exercise/stretch advice from him, too. I've learned that with my quad-intensive basic exercise routines, that if I don't do quad stretches and foam rolling, the odds of knee pain go up (I have a torn meniscus, and some OA). Good MTs know a lot about specialized, targeted stretches. I learned which hip pains are helped by piriformis and psoas stretches, and what some good stretches for those are.

Wily strategies are a good condiment for the main dish of aging, IME. If you can access knowledgeable professionals like the types mentioned above, do it, and pepper them with questions when you do.

Hang snatches, hang high pulls (snatch), loads of chin ups (negative and normal) hanging leg raises, suitcase holds, overhead lunges, uh and strict press and incline DB bench press. Mostly an accessory day. Tomorrow is heavy front squats and a load of cleans, followed by a 5k row. I may die.

Everything else: Giggles!

AnnPT77 wrote: »

IIRC, @yirara, don't you experience some unusual HR response sometimes? Or am I misremembering? My HR response seems to have normal behavior patterns, it's just that the max doesn't match 220-age.

Well... not really. Just a slightly high HRmax. But if Fox et al., sometimeearly70s has a standard deviation of 12 then I'm 3 from the mean. Just about. In a normal distribution, still nearly 5% of a population fall into this. So... not super extreme
Talking to a sports scientist, and he wonders whether my heart beats so fast when exercising to get enough oxygen into my muscles, which he thinks might be a problem for me. But no idea yet.

Did kettlebell workouts again. Realized that my problem with turkish get-ups is the arm holding the kettlebell. Yeah, it hits muscles that I generally have problems with. But I still enjoy doing it because I love complex, slow movements. Maximum HR today: 184 I think from clean and press. Which I also love.

Joints are feeling ok today, so I mowed the lawn. No, not much of a workout, but it isn't a small lawn and is a hill. So, it certainly helped with NEAT.

It was nice to get outside and enjoy the sunshine (upper 60sF/~19C here today)! Happy first day of Spring!

I did a 9 km walk early this morning and a Caroline Girvan chest and triceps video around mid morning but i ruined the day with half a sandwich and a couple of pastries

Last night was proud of myself. Got my hour of cardio in but had brunch with dear friends and played some board games and just talked. By the time we got back home, it was 8 PM and I still managed to get in a short lift. Not long but enough. For me, sometimes it's more about consistency than obsession.

Today was 6K X 2 again. Got just a bit carried away on the 2nd half and went a bit too hard. Consistently seeing 2:26 pace for "easy" stuff @ 120 DF, an improvement for me on easy days.

Sometimes, pace improvements are more apparent when you're going faster with similar HRs as you were 3 or 4 months prior. Still not very fast (my easy stuff used to be around 2:13/2:14 pace), but seeing steady improvements consistently.

Back to my 45 min. elliptical "run". I followed this with my mini-strength training routine, but less reps and sets so I don't irritate the joints. Like @MikePfirrman said, it's more about consistency (and, in my case, avoiding injury).