So, went for my usual Sat am swim today, expecting to have a farily decent one, but it just wasn't happening. Seemed to be lacking energy levels a little, and my breathing was all to cock. I must have half the pool water in my lungs and stomach!
I've been aiming for around 1k each time, of which I do achieve and then do a little more - either some drills / quick lengths etc.
Was a bit put off today too as with any New Year, there was a higher influx of people pottering about, so space to swim obviously becomes restricted and certainly had a psychological effect on my skills today. I know this simply because as soon as a few people got out, and there was more space, I relaxed a little and my swimming improved. Thought I'd also try my length underwater as usual, but couldn't manage it today, which definitely tells me I had less energy and less confidence. Still, it has motivated me more to get back again this week for a better swim.
I need to improve my breathing and also try and increase efficiency so I can begin to string more lengths together so I can finally do 1k without stopping!
My usual times are 34 lengths (30M pool) in about 32 minutes (this includes resting etc), of which I want to reduce a lot. Today was 38 minutes, that's how crap it was! However, I bet the times of the individual lengths were ok, just that I rested a lot more as there were too many people in the way! Oh well, roll on a week night when it's quiet!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Weekly review; 9th Jan
Training this working week: (5th Jan - 9th Jan)
Straight into the 5x5 routine after trying out the typical weights to use, and upped them accordingly!
Monday: 40 minutes
Bench Press, 70 kg (5x5), 30-60 sec rest between sets (struggled on last two reps but completed)
Chin ups + 7kg, (5x5) struggled on 4 & 5th set but completed
Shrugs; 16.5Kg/dumbell, straight intoOver head Dumbell press, resting 40 - 60 seconds between sets
1 arm DB rows; 22kg (5x5) resting 30 - 40 secs
Ab routine: Sit-ups;Side crunches; Hanging leg raises, 5 x 5 continuous, no rest between exercises or sets.
Tue: rest (Legs still tired from Sunday!)
Wednesday: Legs: 15 minutes5x5:50kg squats followed by calf raises (50kg) & deadlifts (50kg), all continuous, in between sets - 20 sit-ups and 10 side crunches every set.
(Seeing if the abs can handle 2 days in a row since the previous days' workout didn't seem too intense)
Thursday 32 minutes
Bench Press, 70 kg (5x5), 60 sec rest between sets (no struggle to complete set)
Chin ups + 7kg, (5x5) 60 sec rest between sets - no struggle to complete final sets.
Deltoid rasies (DB) to front and side; (5x5) with 13kg per DB
1 arm DB rows; 22kg (5x5) resting 30 - 40 secs
Abs - Hanging leg raises; reverse wood cutters (7.5kg) and sit-ups, all continuous, no rest in between.
Friday
Resting today, can't be bothered going for a bike ride as I'm aiming to go for a good swim tomorrow morning. That and its miserable and cold outside! So thought I'd update this instead!
Straight into the 5x5 routine after trying out the typical weights to use, and upped them accordingly!
Monday: 40 minutes
Bench Press, 70 kg (5x5), 30-60 sec rest between sets (struggled on last two reps but completed)
Chin ups + 7kg, (5x5) struggled on 4 & 5th set but completed
Shrugs; 16.5Kg/dumbell, straight intoOver head Dumbell press, resting 40 - 60 seconds between sets
1 arm DB rows; 22kg (5x5) resting 30 - 40 secs
Ab routine: Sit-ups;Side crunches; Hanging leg raises, 5 x 5 continuous, no rest between exercises or sets.
Tue: rest (Legs still tired from Sunday!)
Wednesday: Legs: 15 minutes5x5:50kg squats followed by calf raises (50kg) & deadlifts (50kg), all continuous, in between sets - 20 sit-ups and 10 side crunches every set.
(Seeing if the abs can handle 2 days in a row since the previous days' workout didn't seem too intense)
Thursday 32 minutes
Bench Press, 70 kg (5x5), 60 sec rest between sets (no struggle to complete set)
Chin ups + 7kg, (5x5) 60 sec rest between sets - no struggle to complete final sets.
Deltoid rasies (DB) to front and side; (5x5) with 13kg per DB
1 arm DB rows; 22kg (5x5) resting 30 - 40 secs
Abs - Hanging leg raises; reverse wood cutters (7.5kg) and sit-ups, all continuous, no rest in between.
Friday
Resting today, can't be bothered going for a bike ride as I'm aiming to go for a good swim tomorrow morning. That and its miserable and cold outside! So thought I'd update this instead!
Sunday, January 04, 2009
bike
So, after a dodgy nights sleep (far too warm / sweating my arse off), jumped on the scales to see if the BF had dropped at all since I've eaten fairly well (minus chocolate bits - you know, the leftovers; they won't eat themselves you know!).
Anyhow, just to warn the people who think these scales are accurate, they really can't be, as even though I think I was pretty de-hydrated the scales decided to tell me I was 17.3% Body fat! Not a chance!
So, had my porridge, two cups of coffee and a pint of water. Went for a bike ride an hour later. My legs were cabbaged after about 45 minutes, hip flexors were really tight, and apart from that the temp was bad : 1 deg C!Only took about 1/2 a litre of water (inc electrolyte to be safe), and it was very hard to drink due to the temp.
Time was ok considering, but I think the previous couple of days exercise had caught up with me! Got home, had a protein shake with a bit of honey.
Still a nice hot shower, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast was well earned! resting until tomorrows 5 x 5 attack! But won't be including the leg stuff tomorrow or they will be overtrained for this week.
Anyhow, just to warn the people who think these scales are accurate, they really can't be, as even though I think I was pretty de-hydrated the scales decided to tell me I was 17.3% Body fat! Not a chance!
So, had my porridge, two cups of coffee and a pint of water. Went for a bike ride an hour later. My legs were cabbaged after about 45 minutes, hip flexors were really tight, and apart from that the temp was bad : 1 deg C!Only took about 1/2 a litre of water (inc electrolyte to be safe), and it was very hard to drink due to the temp.
Time was ok considering, but I think the previous couple of days exercise had caught up with me! Got home, had a protein shake with a bit of honey.
Still a nice hot shower, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast was well earned! resting until tomorrows 5 x 5 attack! But won't be including the leg stuff tomorrow or they will be overtrained for this week.
swim
Ok, decided on a swim as it was a bit less exertive than a bike ride, especially after doing the leg weights yesterday. And apparently, your legs during swimming only contributes to 10% of the workforce! And the motion of the arm stroke is not demanding too much from those upper body muscles used during my weights sessions.
Still, the large pool was shut as it wasn't warm enough yet (as they've been shut over chrimbo & NY), so had to use the small pool which is ok but can get a bit crowded. Large pool is adults only 11am-1pm, so small pool did get full of idiots & kids doing "widths"!
Still, did about 50 minutes worth, and improved my technique somewhat by actually managing to stick my entire head underwater throughout the stroke (as it should be done), also learned that I can now take two full strokes per breath instead of the one!
So it has already been a productive day. Except that they have put the fees up! £2.80 for and adult swim, and 20p for use of the locker! Robbing gits!
Still, the large pool was shut as it wasn't warm enough yet (as they've been shut over chrimbo & NY), so had to use the small pool which is ok but can get a bit crowded. Large pool is adults only 11am-1pm, so small pool did get full of idiots & kids doing "widths"!
Still, did about 50 minutes worth, and improved my technique somewhat by actually managing to stick my entire head underwater throughout the stroke (as it should be done), also learned that I can now take two full strokes per breath instead of the one!
So it has already been a productive day. Except that they have put the fees up! £2.80 for and adult swim, and 20p for use of the locker! Robbing gits!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
New Year Mix Up
Ok , so I've bit the bullet. Not sure how well up-to date this will be kept.
This years goals:
Reduce Body Fat (Ideally want 10%) Retain same weight (70Kg) and hence add muscle to replace fat weight!However, priority is reduce BF, if weight drops, this will be good for being faster out on the bike!
So I need to be consistent with my diet. No more alcohol for at least all January. Cutting out sugar in brews (swapping for sweeteners). Drinking more water instead of tea & coffee.
New weights routine, losely based on the 5 x 5 system, twice a week (Mon & Thus);
Preliminary test run today (evaluation of weights for use!):
(1) Squats (BB) 50 Kg immediately followed by (2)Calf raises (50 Kg) immediately followed by (3)Deadlift (50 kg). rest for 1 minute then repeated another 4 times. (Nice and warm!)
(Could have used more weight but training at home = harder to get heavier weight overhead & onto back of shoulders!; will try and up this soon though)
(4) Bench Press 65 kg; rested for rest of time used for 1 minute of the exercise (i.e. took 20 seconds to do 5 reps, so rested for 40 seconds) repeated 4 times.
(5) Chins (not pull-ups!) + 7kg load; managed 4 sets, then only 3 reps on last set and just used body weight for last 2 reps. (rested for remaing one min period of set, as done in the BP)
(6) Shrugs (Dumbell) 15.5 Kg per side immediately followed by (7) Overhead DB pressing (same weight), again restin for rest of minute used for the exercise; and repeated another 4 times.
(8) 1 arm rowing (using bench to lean on) 22kg, and again, rest for duration of minute used for exercise. repeat x 4
Then ABs! 3 moves (exercises) as follows:
Hanging Leg raises x 5 immediately followed by crunches x 5 immediately followed by side crunches (lying on one side flexing toward the hip). Rested for 30 seconds then repeated 4 more times. (May increase these at some point, but they were hurting more than expected!)
Workout was quicker than normal (41 mins! vs 60!) due to watching my rest periods. Can and will go heavier on other exercises except Chins, and be careful on squat weights as I'm on my own training!
I will be keeping up with my cycling and current liking of swimming once a week too (as I now have 2 new pairs of goggles so I can see where I'm going!)
Will be sticking to this for 5 or 6 weeks to see how it goes, and it's certainly made an instant difference in the mental aspect of this, as I was getting stuck in my old routine.
My diet is pretty clean anyway, no junk / pastries / chocolate etc and home-made lunches are normal, plus snacking on good stuff in between main meals (pretty much a 6 meal a day type routine). Will up calories pre-bike rides and swimming and using protein shakes immediately after all exercise to aid recovery / growth.
Lets see if anything happens!
This years goals:
Reduce Body Fat (Ideally want 10%) Retain same weight (70Kg) and hence add muscle to replace fat weight!However, priority is reduce BF, if weight drops, this will be good for being faster out on the bike!
So I need to be consistent with my diet. No more alcohol for at least all January. Cutting out sugar in brews (swapping for sweeteners). Drinking more water instead of tea & coffee.
New weights routine, losely based on the 5 x 5 system, twice a week (Mon & Thus);
Preliminary test run today (evaluation of weights for use!):
(1) Squats (BB) 50 Kg immediately followed by (2)Calf raises (50 Kg) immediately followed by (3)Deadlift (50 kg). rest for 1 minute then repeated another 4 times. (Nice and warm!)
(Could have used more weight but training at home = harder to get heavier weight overhead & onto back of shoulders!; will try and up this soon though)
(4) Bench Press 65 kg; rested for rest of time used for 1 minute of the exercise (i.e. took 20 seconds to do 5 reps, so rested for 40 seconds) repeated 4 times.
(5) Chins (not pull-ups!) + 7kg load; managed 4 sets, then only 3 reps on last set and just used body weight for last 2 reps. (rested for remaing one min period of set, as done in the BP)
(6) Shrugs (Dumbell) 15.5 Kg per side immediately followed by (7) Overhead DB pressing (same weight), again restin for rest of minute used for the exercise; and repeated another 4 times.
(8) 1 arm rowing (using bench to lean on) 22kg, and again, rest for duration of minute used for exercise. repeat x 4
Then ABs! 3 moves (exercises) as follows:
Hanging Leg raises x 5 immediately followed by crunches x 5 immediately followed by side crunches (lying on one side flexing toward the hip). Rested for 30 seconds then repeated 4 more times. (May increase these at some point, but they were hurting more than expected!)
Workout was quicker than normal (41 mins! vs 60!) due to watching my rest periods. Can and will go heavier on other exercises except Chins, and be careful on squat weights as I'm on my own training!
I will be keeping up with my cycling and current liking of swimming once a week too (as I now have 2 new pairs of goggles so I can see where I'm going!)
Will be sticking to this for 5 or 6 weeks to see how it goes, and it's certainly made an instant difference in the mental aspect of this, as I was getting stuck in my old routine.
My diet is pretty clean anyway, no junk / pastries / chocolate etc and home-made lunches are normal, plus snacking on good stuff in between main meals (pretty much a 6 meal a day type routine). Will up calories pre-bike rides and swimming and using protein shakes immediately after all exercise to aid recovery / growth.
Lets see if anything happens!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
