Unleashing The Beast :: FitBob

Getting sweaty with 30 women today! #stepitup #spinning Start the day right!

Weight: 214, 9am

Spin class 60m, moderate intensity

Stretching
Soak: 7m
Steam: 5m

Starting the day off getting sweaty with 9 women! #woot #spinning

Weight: 215, 7am

Warmup: 80m spin

Spin Class: 60m

Cooldown: ~20m spin

Soak: 7m
Steam: 7m

Bit of a Forrest Gump day today. Meant to lift legs, but got into the riding zone early. Felt good, so I kept going. Took a break at 1:20m to take a Clif Shot & refill my water bottle. Felt good, kept going through class. Then cooled down.

~2.5hrs total ride time, mostly in LI or MI aerobic zones.

March 3 – April 6, 2011

Timeframe: 35 days
On Plan: 26 days
Missed: 9 days

Exercise Time: 19 hours
Total Calories: -13465
BodyFat Equivalent: 3.74 pounds!

All in all, a good month. I missed more training days than I would have preferred, but life has a way of happening. The important takeaway for me is that I accomplished a solid month of base training and can now move on to the training I like better.

By charting my training, I am now able to look back and see a distinctive pattern/flaw: Rest days. In March, they were momentum killers – most of my missed days occurred after a scheduled rest day. Methinks I need to change the program and add a bit more structure.

So for April I’m switching to a different routine – the old standby that has served me well for years: Train Mon-Fri, with weekends “off.” Since month two is the strenght phase of my plan, I’ll lift one body part a day Monday-Friday, followed by some core work and at least :30 min cardio. Typically:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Arms
Friday: Legs

Training legs on Friday gives me two off days over the weekend to recover from blasting them, so I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.

And while weekends are technically non-training days, I’ll still do rides for fun or with friends. Now those rides become “bonus” workouts – a key mental distinction.

Diet remains the same: eat healthy six days a week, with one cheat day to eat whatever I want.

(BTW – Cheat days are great! No only do they give you a mental break from restriction, they provide a short term, achievable goal. I usually put them on Sundays so I have a week-end target: “I can’t eat that today, but I can have as much as I want on Sunday!” And by putting it at the end of my week, I can choose to enjoy it earlier in the week and just eat healthy on Sunday instead.)

My weight has remained pretty constant over the month, but I can see the changes in the mirror and feel it in my clothes. Don’t get hung up on the scale – this past month my body has burned off fat and replaced it with muscle. So, while I may weigh the same, I look and feel different. THAT’s the important thing, not the pounds.

Bod’s feeling good, chest is feeling tight but not sore from Monday. Triceps are toast though. Heh

Warmup: 12min elliptical

Assisted Pullup: 108×12/10/7
Assisted Chin: 108×6
Assisted PGrip: 108×6
Low Cable Row: 90×8/8/8/8
Hi Cable Row: 90×8/6/6

Bent Knee Raise: 15/12/10

Spin: 30 min

Stretch

SSS: 20 min

Calories: -820

Today marks the beginning of the strength phase of my three month training plan. After a month of low intensity, aerobic foundation training, I’m excited to move some iron for a change. (Not as much iron as my ego like, but ya gotta start somewhere.)

I’ll go detail the plan in a later post, but it’s basically a month of low-intensity aerobic work, followed by a month of strength training, with a month to specialize, focus on weak areas and taper for the event.

For those that think weightlifting doesn’t count as aerobic exercise, just check the HR graph – almost all of the energy spent in this workout was generated aerobically, not just when spinning.

Warmup: 12min elliptical

Assisted Dips: 108×15, 90×10/10/10
Incline Press: 50×8/8/8/8 (pingy shoulder)
DB Pullover: 30×10/6/6
Cable Cross: 30×10/10/10

Spin: 55min

Stretch

Calories: -1040

Weak! Shoulder issues

1hr on spin bike

FM/low target HR

Calories: -568

Weight: 211
Time: 9:30am

Warmup: 13min elliptical

45 min Exerbike
45 min Spin bike w/3 climb intervals

Total calories: -1160

Dropped 5 pounds overnight after last Sunday’s ride – clearly didn’t rehydrate properly. Note to self: even if it’s chilly out, make sure to drink enough fluids!

Made it to the gym yesterday to train, but forgot my lock so I went home to grab it and work caught me. Made sure I had everything and went earlier today.

The gym room with the spin bikes had a Zumba class going on, so I cruised on the exerbike until they were done and then jumped on the spin bike. Did three standing/climbing intervals that got the quads so pumped I was feeling them all afternoon.

Long Duration/Low Intensity, aerobic base-building

Weight: 209
11:57 am

Spin bike: 2:11
Steam/Hottub: 5 min

Total calories: -1121

Took a complete rest day yesterday to give the bod some time to adapt to recent training loads without any stressors. I also haven’t been getting enough sleep the last few weeks; despite going to bed early, my twitchy back and mental chatter have kept me up more than I’d like. I was ecstatic to get 4.5 hours last night, and hopefully today’s longer ride will put an end to that and get me back on a relatively normal sleep cycle.