Allenh's Group - CLOSED (Page 4)

Not quite.  Long ride on Sunday followed by a pretty intense lower body weight training session plus some goofy running drills has had me eating advil the past couple days.  Took it pretty easy today so I can be fresh for the end of the week.  I'm dying to get a swim in but my work hours don't mesh with pool hours so I can only ocean swim and it's been super windy & rough lately.  Hopefully it calms down by Saturday when I can join a group swim.  The important thing is I'm making time to exercise every day. 

Right now I'm working on improving my run and I'm trying to start with good form.  I've been suffering from run injuries off & on since last November, so I want to start back slow and run smart.  I'm considering myself a blank canvas so any run advice is greatly appreciated!

thats good pete, start new. I like doing that too, i always feel like i can go faster and further every time I start anew

Nope, not feeling rested at all but knew this was going to be a hump week. Starting back at taekwondo means a week of hell - sore legs, sore feet, sore eyelids too (well almost!!).
Looking forward to a rest day on Sunday and some recovery time then. 

Hi Karl,
If you want to put on some muscle weight there is a site called www.bodybuilding.com and they have 100's of free workouts there. The programs have been put together by all different guys who seem to know what they are doing and have used the workouts themselves. There are literally hundreds to chose from.
To put on muscle the best rep / set range is around 5 sets of 6-8 reps in a split routine so you are working different body parts each day ie: Chest / Tri's on Monday Legs / Shoulders on Wednesday and Back / Bi's on Friday. You want to do at least 3 exercises for each body part ie Chest: Bench Press / Incline DB Press / DB Flyes.  Tri specific weights training has a higher rep range due to the endurance nature of the sport but as you want to put on some size that is the way to go. Good luck with it.

Man, I have the opposite problem.  Began logging food intake and upping my exercise volume and I've lost a paltry 2 pounds in a month.  

I come from a combat sports (wrestling, jiu jitsu, etc.) background and that included a good amount of strength training.  Gaining muscle mass comes easy for me, losing obviously less so.   Michelle's suggestion re: bodybuilding.com is definitely a good spot to get a lot of good body building information.  I'm not the biggest fan of higher weight/lower rep strength training.  I think it helps you build mass for sure but I think you get more "quality" muscle by going with a little less weight and doing 10-15 reps to exhaustion.  In my experience that helped me build muscle that had better anaerobic efficiency which helped me on the mat.  Your goals and experience may certainly differ. I'm also a big fan of doing strength based exercise that promotes functional strength, like compound dumbell and bodyweight exercises.  

Check out some of the exercises on Steve Maxwell's youtube channel.  Steve is my old jiu-jitsu coach and an excellent trainer who practices what he preaches.  This guy is pretty amazing for 55 years old.


http://www.youtube.com/user/MaxwellStrengthCond

hey everyone ill be at the napa valley triathlon in lake berryessa all weekend volunteering and getting a glimpse of the action i will going through here in the future... 5'10 weight 167 11% body fat strong and full of faith....great job everyone.....i actually want to sneak in an open water swim in the lake a couple times everyday im hustling!!!!! pull through!

Pete, I agree with you when you say "quality muscle" or muscle that has good endurance from a higher rep range and using fuctional exercise but to build size (only size, not function or endurance) then low rep range is the way to go. Doing low reps means you do sacrifice all that.
If you put on muscle easily then you can get away with the higher rep range and still build but for someone who has trouble keeping or putting size on the high weight / low rep / high set seems to work best for adding size.
This doesn't mean you need to traing like this forever - only whilst you are building and then a few months after the season when you need to build up again and have the time to put into weights. 

I hope everyone had a good weekend/first week of training! I myself had a triathlon today, I won my age group and got 40th overall. My run was the 5th fastest out of everyone, which was 22:25 for 3.5 miles ( it rained a lot this week so they had to change the run course, which ended up being longer than a 5k). But I am very happy with my results and am anxious to hear about all of yours!

Congrats on the win Allen - awesome effort.

Good job, man!  I wish I could run that fast!

Training's been pretty consistent down here.  I did have a weird incident yesterday, though.   I'm doing an early AM ride with a buddy.  Stiff headwind on our out leg and I'm looking forward to sailing back home with the wind at our backs.  Get 5 miles in to the home leg when I hear a *ping* and all of a sudden my saddle disappears!  I pull off in to the grass and get off the bike to find that the screw that holds the seat clamp snapped clean thru.  The good news is I found the two pieces of the seat clamp on the side of the road about 20 yards back.  The bad news is I had to ride the last 15 miles home with no seat.  Oof.

wow pete, that sounds rough! I don't think I could ever do that!

Wow our group is pretty quiet.

Here goes a new topic.  Does anyone use a GPS/HR monitor for training?  I have been thinking about getting a Garmin Forerunner 305 but not sure if it is worth it.  What are everyones thoughts?

Hi everyone,
I'm goiing to step out of this group. I am not doing my tri trianing right now as it is our off season and am finding it hard to get on here as often as I would like.
I wish you all the best with your tri season. 

I don't yet have one of those Garmin ones, but I'm thinking about getting one for myself as a "yay me" prize once I finish my first triathlon. 

For now my favorite gadget is my nike+ chip.  I don't run in Nikes, but I have it strapped to my laces and it's pretty accurate.  I like having someone tell me when I run my best mile or longest workout or fastest 5k.  I find it motivating. 

I don't have one but my buddy does.  Great technology and I've seen 'em all over the place for $150-180.

Here's what I've been told about HR training, and of course I'm no expert so this is all second hand info from friends who are serious IM types.  They tell me HR training can be really beneficial, but only when two very important conditions are met.  First, they tell me that you should get your lactate threshold tested.  Not the "over the counter" method of average HR during max effort, but going to a specialist who will take blood and test the actual amount of lactase in your blood.  From what I heard this can cost maybe $100-200, but you'll know without a doubt what your real HR zones are.  

The second thing I've been told is that HR training works best within a plan.  I think what they mean by this is that you use a formal training plan, or at least have enough knowledge about HR zones to know how & when to train in different zones and for what durations, and with a goal in mind.  Learning how to train w/ HR might be the kind of thing you hire a coach to help you do.

Wow, that's really interesting/hardcore!  I worked with a guy for a little while who had been an olympic runner and he mentioned that HR training was the best way to train, but holy cow- that's a lot of thinking!  I suppose I'll stick with my low tech plan for now.  I can see how this sport can become so expensive so quick. 

I have the Garmin Forerunner 405 which is the newest watch Garmin has. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a watch. It tells calories burned, auto-lap, virtual partner, current mile pace, route run, and it also has a bike mode designed for triathlon! It really is amazing.

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been AWOL for a while. A lot going on in my life lately, I just started a new internship and I guess going to work just takes the wind out of me. Anyhow, I went for a bike ride today and I know I should go running today too, but I am just full of excuses nowadays. I'm trying to dig deep, but I cannot be inspired. Anyone has any ideas on how to mentally get back on the horse?

 machine front and center!
well my reporting status goes as this...altho0ugh i HAVE been working out continuously the past week i just havent had the chance to really sit and report to my fellow triathletes and mentor...i wasnt awol i was actually we can say, on a mission. riding the tide...engaging and overcoming strong currents. i also have a commitment with school as i am a fulltime student. my training logging is on my first choicelogger active.com same username "m@chine" if wanting to check my 'daily workouts'. ii will monitoring evrybodys progress as i love to see how everyone develops and builds endurance and confidence....feeling good, looking good!

many are called, few are chosen...you must practice self discipline.  gump if your a triathlete, thats what you should have already mastered. you are not a beginner athlete nomore remember all them agonizing  runs and bike rides youve been through, throughout all your training should have mentally prepared yourself for shortcomings like what you are experiencing...i take training seriously...its my life...and whoever is watching...i am there example on how to...we the perfromance athlete, are unique, they are not many people like us, one way oflooking at it...i take pride in that...go get that money gump....and take it to the bank....its all you! im putting you in the game...

many are called, few are chosen...you must practice self discipline.  gump if your a triathlete, thats what you should have already mastered. you are not a beginner athlete nomore remember all them agonizing  runs and bike rides youve been through, throughout all your training should have mentally prepared yourself for shortcomings like what you are experiencing...i take training seriously...its my life...and whoever is watching...i am there example on how to...we the perfromance athlete, are unique, they are not many people like us, one way oflooking at it...i take pride in that...go get that money gump....and take it to the bank....its all you! im putting you in the game...

I've found that it's pretty hard to have inspiration find you.  If you wait to be inspired to train you'll just never get to it. I had a friend tell me once that the hardest part of working out is getting your shoes on.  Once those shoes are on there are no excuses; you're dressed and now you have to hit the road.  Tomorrow morning get dressed and lace up those shoes.  The first few times out the door will be hard but it will only get easier as you create a new routine.  

I feel like I'm getting in a bit of a rut.  I'm getting a good amount of training time in but I'm doing the same things every week.  I'm thinking about picking a week and really mixing up the things I do if just to give a little shock to my system.   I really want to start running more/better.  I kinda tweaked my knee a bit yesterday in a freak accident, so I hope I can make my run goal (70 minutes) this week.

Have fun training everyone.