|
Training blog - page 13
Day eighty one: Wednesday 26 April 2006
Gym. On today's visit, I did my usual main leg exercises. I'm sure my legs would agree if I said that I'm now hitting a zone where recovery is taking slightly longer, as weight loads increase.
Firstly, I managed 3 sets of 10 leg presses at 235kg and pressed the 30 reps fairly comfortably, certainly better than the previous week. Next, I went on to the leg extension aparatus where I did the usual 3 sets of 10 reps at 80kg. Again, my legs are gradually coping better with the extra resistance.
Finally, I finished with the following exercises, all of which were unchanged:- 'Superman' ball raises, leg curls, inner thigh squeezes, outer thigh pushes, tricep pulldowns, torso twists and calf raises.
On the previous visit, I reported on how my legs are struggling to perform a full rep (of complete hamstring travel) of leg curls. Today, I found that I managed to do the first 8 reps of the first set at complete hamstring travel, before the hamstrings tired. The remaining two reps of this set were performed at approximately 80% of maximum travel. The second set meant that my hamstrings were likely to tire quicker than the first set and this happened 6 reps into the next ten. Finally, my hamstrings travelled the full distance for the first 5 reps on the final set, before struggling to curl past 50/60% of the maximum travel.
My next visit to Lakenham Sports and Leisure Centre will be on Tuesday 2 May. The main aim will be to leg press 250kg, to leg curl at least two sets at full travel (55kg) and also to perform all thirteen exercises in one visit.
Day eighty two: Thursday 27 April 2006
Rest day.
Day eighty three: Friday 28 April 2006
Yoga. Before starting today's session, I warmed up by doing forearm development (two sets of 30 reps) at the usual tempo; one set of 5 second reps followed by 30 quick squeezes.
Unfortunately, I only managed two or three poses; I worked on the website all through Thursday night, downloading, editing (to get them looking as good as possible) and submitting them onto the  photo gallery. I also updated several other pages including the training blog.
The intention was to do many classic yoga poses. However, I fell asleep on the exercise mat shortly after I had done a Corpse pose (Savasana), a Kapalabhati breathing exercise, several neck exercises and Cobra pose (Bhukangasana). I eventually woke up at approximately 1.20am.
On the plus side, my passport arrived today so I will be making enquiries as to whether there are any challenging mountains in north west France as I feel travel to there will be cheaper than to Wales or Devon. I also purchased a 12-27 tooth rear cassette today in readyness for the mountains; the gears on my current set up of 11-21 teeth would be too large for the expected gradients. With Norwich having gradients as steep as the Alps, I know I can ride up these inclines using a 21 tooth sprocket, but these steep gradients of course go on for quite a few miles and I would find it best to settle into a lower gear. I think I'd rather have the 27 toothed gear knowing it's available if I need it instead of searching for a gear which is not on the bike, even though I am still hopeful of getting assistance for the more responsive carbon fibre frame and wheels. This week, I will be expanding my search for corporate sponsorship to companies based in the USA and Canada.
I also bought several sachets of electrolyte for use in the Alps. This is powder-like carbohydrate and minerals which simply mixes with water.
Day eighty four: Saturday 29 April 2006
Bike. Today I covered 42.87 miles at an average speed of 16.1mph. The wind was quite strong and blustery. Fortunately for me, the headwind was blowing in the direction of the most undulating part of the route, so my legs felt very worked today.
There were ominous looking black clouds, so I took the decision of taking my winter training bike with me.
Once home, I did handgrips (two sets of 30 reps) followed by the same quantity of ab crunches and reverse curls. I am still finding my abs burn, especially towards the end of sets.
Late in May, I plan to use the same route to do hill intervals. This will mean an increase in strength and power, as I will be riding in a big gear towards and up the first part of the hill, then selecting a gear two sprockets higher whilst standing on the pedals then towards the top, downshift by one gear.
Day eighty five: Sunday 30 April 2006
Bike. Back in the saddle again today for the second successive day. Today I cycled 43.91 miles, again on my winter training bike, at an average speed of 16.2mph. My legs generally felt very good and showed no signs of fatigue following yesterday's ride. Pretty much the same wind speed as yesterday, with lots of cloud and rain fell approximately five miles from home. With the gearing used and average speed, I cycled mainly in the aerobic efficiency zone, but only just (between 70-80% of maximum heart rate).
My aims for tomorrow are to have a long session of Yoga and also do some fundraising.
Day eighty six: Monday 1 May 2006
Rest day.
Day eighty seven: Tuesday 2 May 2006
Gym. Today, I did increase the leg press weight load to 250kg and managed one set of 10 reps plus 5 reps of the second set, before replacing the tenth 25kg weight disk with a 10kg one, to make 235kg. I pressed the remaining 5 reps of the second set plus the whole of the third set at 235kg.
My weakened elbow continues to struggle with the upright rowing bar. On this occasion, I managed one set plus 10 reps of the second at the weight of the bar plus 5kg of weight disks. The remainder of the three sets of 20 reps were performed at the weight of the bar plus a 2.5kg weight disk. Compared to the previous time I did these, it still represents an improvement. Leg extensions were unchanged, but found them a little difficault on this visit. No change to 'Superman' ball raises or leg curls with approximately the same number of reps per set before my legs became extremely tired. Inner thigh squeezes were unchanged at 155lbs, however I found that these hurt today.
In addition, outer thigh squeezes were performed at the same weight resistance of 110lbs, tricep pulldowns were unchanged, as were torso twists. In regards to calf raises, my feet regularly slipped in my training shoes (presumably to sweat; today's weather was warm and fairly humid) so abandoned these for the day after only four reps at 120kg. I will consider doing subsequent calf raises as the very first exercise per visit. Hip flexor raises, total hip kickbacks and pullovers were also unchanged.
Later, I did the usual number of handgrips, ab crunches and reverse curls.
On the next visit, I will be leg pressing 250kg again, this time the full 3 sets of 10 reps. I also feel ready to increase the weight resistance on tricep pulldowns to 20kg and am confident I can perform total hip kickbacks at the new weight resistance of 73kg. Another target is pullovers, where I will attempt these using a 15kg dumbell.
page one | previous| next | 
