Poor Man's Recovery

Cycling is expensive. It costs a pretty penny for all the gear: bike, helmet, shorts, jersey, pedals, shoes etc. etc. Then if you decide to race you are paying race day fees and for your yearly USAC license, plus you may join a club and pay dues so that you can race for a team. Then there's all the time you put it into it. I know that's not money (I don't really think time is money), but it's still a cost.

With all these costs, it pays to be stingy whenever possible. There are definitely plenty of places you can afford to do so. For instance, a $20 cyclocomputer tells you how fast you are going just as well as a new $650 Garmin 800. And that piece of paper you wrote down directions on is still just as reliable as any instructions you'd get from a GPS.

So why all this financial hullabaloo, you ask? Because one area where it doesn't make sense to cut corners is taking care of your body. However, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to break the bank to do what's good for your body. One of the areas of training that is more essential than anyone gives it credit for is recovery. Often the difference between winning and losing isn't necessarily how well trained you are, but how well rested you are. Let me say it again. Recovery is of the utmost importance.

It doesn't matter how much you train and stress your body, if you don't have time to rebuild and repair your performance won't improve much. So let's get down to business and talk practical recovery at minimal cost.

Recovery Priorities:

1) Replenish depleted energy stores.

Basically this means EAT! In my opinion this is one of the best parts of recovery. Especially when you've been out for a really long ride (you know the 2-4+ hour kind). After all that work you're body's glycogen stores are emptier than old mother Hubbard's cupboard. This is the best energy source for your muscles. The recommendation for endurance sports is to replace both protein and carbohydrates. Typically at around 3:1, carbs:protein. There are lots of expensive sports drinks out there that will give you their "ideal" blend. I have teammates who use Recoverite by Hammer Nutrition, but it's pretty pricy.

I prefer chocolate milk. A tall glass of fat free or 1% chocolate milk is just about perfect after an hour or two out on the bike. Plus it helps replenish your lost fluids you lost while you were sweatin' to the oldies.

As it turns out a can of Coke may not be a bad option. A recent study discussed by the New York Times, suggests that athletes that replenished after a hard workout with fructose actually recovered a little faster and lots of people feel that caffeine helps their recovery too.

One Caveat: Just be careful that you don't use your workout to justify eating junk all day long. You have a little leeway to eat whatever you want in the first half hour to hour and a half, but after that it's best to keep on a normal healthy eating plan with lots of fruits and vegetables and reasonable portion sizes.

2) Stop excess inflammation

There are a few options here and the proof that they work is variable. The two main suggestions are ice and compression. You can buy compression socks or tights or all sorts of different garments these days for reasonable prices and everyone says that they make your legs feel great the next day. The scientific evidence for compression garments is lacking, but half of recovery is just feeling better even if there isn't some sort of top secret anything going on in your muscle cells. So if you want to feel better the next day after a hard workout, compression is a good option.

Ice on the other hand is cheap and easy to use: Step one, Remove ice from freezer. Step two, apply ice to recently exercised muscle. The idea is that chemical processes are slowed down by lower temperatures and so the breakdown of muscle tissue is slowed by using ice. This is just difficult to do because it takes some serious self motivation to get out an ice bag for 15-20 minutes after every intense workout or use an ice bath. Unless of course you're a Polar Bear, then you've got an edge on the recovery market.

3) Rest the muscles that just got used

Your muscles need some time to loosen up and rebuild. We've fed them and tried to limit our damages by decreasing inflammation now it's time to rest them and rub them. As the saying goes, "don't stand when you can sit." Lay down if you can. You may not have this luxury since chances are good that you aren't getting paid to lay around at the office, however, if you can sit or put your legs up on a leg rest or another chair you should do it.

Massage is another great tool for loosening up tired muscles. I haven't done any personal research on this but the word on the street is that it's a good idea. Unfortunately, massages are expensive. A foam roller on the other hand is not. Rubbing out your muscles helps keep you flexible and injury free. It also feels great. Check that, the result feels great. The actual process is often quite painful. But it's worth it. (PS- for those of you shaving your legs, the massage part is the one of the most convincing reasons for shaving your legs when talking with non cyclists. If you explain that it's not a lot of fun to have your leg hair pulled out when rubbing your tired muscles and then give them a quick demonstration on their arm if they don't believe you, you will soon have a new convert.)

4) Feel Better

The bottom line is that you want to feel better and to feel rested so that you're ready to tackle your next event or workout. Recovery is just as much a psychological process as it is a physical process. If your brain feels tired, you aren't going to want to get off the couch and do anything. You also won't be sharp enough to be your best at work or play. This part of recovery is very personalized. If it means playing video games, watching a golf tournament (aka napping), reading a book or taking a nap, you can decide for yourself. It's like a choose your own adventure book.

Just remember if you don't have to stand, sit down; and if you can put your feet up or lay down that's even better. Train hard and rest harder.

The June Challenge

After a month off of monthly challenges I have survived spring finals during M1 year of medical school and I'm ready to hit the ground running...or burpee-ing. Inspired by an article in the New York Times, I think I'll make this month's challenge Burpees. I'm going to do 50 a day. Although, after reading the article it might be better to do burpees for a certain amount of time, if you care to join me, you can set a time limit or a number goal. This one will be tough so it's okay that it's a slightly shorter month (I was on vacation for the last week, so I wasn't doing burpees either which means you didn't miss any.)

May Challenge 2011

I'm a little tardy in posting this, and unfortunately for this month you may have to get used to a little sparsity of postage. You see, this month's challenge is not truly a physical challenge like the month's until now. The challenge is in fact almost an anti-challenge.

Every once in awhile it's important to step back and make your physical fitness a little less important. Yes, less important. I know that sounds contrary to most of what you may have ever read here, but hold on just a second and listen a little more. Sometimes (often times) there are things more important than your fitness. Let me give you a for instance...spring finals during your first year of medical school.

I subscribe to the philosophy that fitness should always be an underlying theme in life or else life will suffer. But sometimes it's important to stop your keen eye for your physical aptitude and make sure that you are balancing the rest of life. This may mean scaling back some. Which it does in my case. I have no pending races, but I definitely have pending examinations.

Therefore this month's challenge is as follow. Do enough to enjoy yourself and maintain a little fitness, but no significant fitness gains are to be made this month. Take the time to attend to other areas of life and let fitness sit on the back burner long enough to ensure balance. Then when June comes--and summer with it--get ready to jump back on the train.

Sufferfest

The weather just does NOT want to cooperate. Despite being the middle (ahem almost the end) of April in Milwaukee, this week's forecast calls for rain, rain, rain and cold. The rain is one thing, but when the lows are just above freezing and the highs aren't much higher it doesn't make me very happy. I'm supposed to race this weekend and need a good hard midweek ride. I'm not going to get it outside and risk poor health for the weekend. Sooooo...what to do? I'll turn to Sufferfest for an alternative.

Let me just say this before I say anymore; I AM SICK OF RIDING THE INDOOR TRAINER. Sometimes, though, you have no better choice. To beat the indoor trainer blues you need something to get you through it. This winter I made a find in The Sufferfest. They offer the right kind of stuff to keep your mind off being stuck inside. (un)fortunately when you ride with them, all you can think about is how much it hurts. My torture of choice is "The Hunted." It's a 61 minute battle that keeps my mind interested, occupied and--dare I say--entertained even. For a short sample, see below.

At approximately $10/video to download, you can't beat the price and it's hard to beat the workout.

Say, "Good-bye!" to Coach Troy and his short shorts. Spinervals ain't got nothin' on this ride.

The April Challenge

Since I failed miserably at the March Challenge (yep, miserably), I've decided to up the ante a little bit with the April Challenge. Since my typically lopsided cyclist's physique tends to favor muscles in the lower half, but the demands of the world generally require you to have more muscle in your arms than a twiggy fellow like Mr. Schleck; this month's challenge will be pull-ups.

In 9th grade I walked into the beginning of gym class able to do only 1 or 2 pull ups at a time. I decided that if I was going to make a difference on only one aspect of my presidential physical fitness test it was going to be pull ups. My dad built a pull-up bar for me in the laundry room and by the end of the semester I was able to 18 in a row. Not a bad improvement, eh? They do a lot for you in several different muscle groups so they are a good way to get some all around upper body fitness, functional even. You don't ever want to be that last guy in a group of people who is trying to run away from a pack of hungry wolves but can't get himself up into the tree for safety. (I don't know if that happens to you often, but if it ever does you'll be glad you took the April Challenge.)

My challenge number for the month is 40 pull-ups a day with a goal of 20 in a row. I might increase to 50 by the end of the month, but given my time away from the pull-up bar my arms are already a bit sore as it is.

Give it a try and see what you can do. You might surprise yourself.

El Desafio de Marzo (...the March Challenge 2011)

So another way to keep yourself interested in your fitness goals during this crummy time between winter and spring (besides learning how to write things in different languages) is to set short term attainable goals. You might say I'm cherry picking here and taking the easy road to get some "results," but the fact of the matter is that you need to boost your morale any chance you get if you are hoping to make it to summer.

This whole "Challenge" thing started in January with the 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups a day challenge. I survived the 150 kettlebell swings per day in February and now it's for something a little different.

I decided that after targeting my legs last month with the monthly challenge, I need to focus some more again on my core to help support my back as I crank up the cycling miles. To accomplish that, this month's challenge is two-fold. Both ab work and compensatory back work to stabilize.

The two exercises I'll be doing daily are the dolphin pose and the locust pose. Both are yoga moves that I learned which focus on the stability muscles throughout your back and abdomen. Perfect for protection on the bike. I will be doing 75 of each every day. If you'd like to join me, see more below for how to do the moves.

First of all, the dolphin. Start in a plank. Once stable, push your butt and hips into the air.



Like this...

Now, I don't usually get this high, or this flat footed. Instead, I let myself come as far up as I can without coming off the balls of my feet. I hold it there for just a moment and then go back to a plank. That's one rep. Target=75. (right now I can only manage 25 in a row before my abs feel like they are going to implode we'll see if we can get to 75 in a row by the end of the month)

Second, the locust. It's a silly name. I don't think this looks anything like a locust, but whatever. Start face down on the floor. Lift your feet off the ground and then bring your shoulders and chest up. Try not to strain your neck. I usually look at the ground the whole time to keep my neck in a more neutral position.

There you go. This one is a bit easier. But again, Target= 75.

The plan is to keep this going every day until the end of the month. Then I have one more accomplishment to put in my belt and save for later when I'm feeling the beatdown of a long training season. I can reach into my suitcase of courage and pull out this simple but not insignificant challenge and say to myself "YOU CAN DO IT!"

There you go. Join me in the March Challenge and beat the Winter Blues by having at least one little feather to put in your hat and remind yourself you can make it through until spring.

Foam Roller

Rollin', rollin', rollin' keep that foam roll rollin'.

What, you may ask, is a foam roller? It is a beautiful little piece of gear that probably costs 100 times as much to buy it as it did to make, but is still worth every dime I paid. See below.

The foam roller is the masseuse that you wish you could be for yourself. No money for a soigneur despite the hundreds of miles you spend on the bike. Use this little puppy to give yourself a good rub down and you'll be happy and maybe a little stretchier later.

The idea of the foam roller is to balance a part of your body (i.e. calf, thigh, lower back, gluts etc) on top of the roll and then slowly move back and forth. While you do this, the pressure stretches out your muscles and grinds through your tired limbs not unlike a deep tissue massage. The best part is that it's a pretty passive stretch so other than the pain of mashing your muscles it's fairly difficult to hurt yourself with this.

It works great. Especially after a hard weekend of riding and strength training, like I've been doing here in the early preseason, this thing can roll out my legs like nothing else. It's especially helpful on big muscles like your quads where it can be hard to manage a good rub down with your own hands.

Albeit, when you are really sore this feels more like torture than treatment, but I think we can all agree sometimes it takes a little good hurt to get rid of the bad hurt. (I'm sure that my neighbors probably think I'm being beaten by my wife because of my pathetic howling and wimpering when I use the foam roller after a really hard span of workouts.)

Where can you pick one up? Try REI or almost any other sports store. They usually cost about $25 (a lot cheaper than a professional massage and nearly as effective). Target and Wal-Mart frequently carry them too.

The February Challenge 2011

Wow, January just flew by. And despite a little illness towards the end of the month, the January Challenge is complete. 31 days and 3100 push ups later I'm ready for round two. Bring it on February.

This month you have full warning, so I hope that you have the gumption* to join me. Since February is a few days shorter, we're going to make sure that we're not lacking in challenge and the feat for the month will be a little more intense. Guaranteed to get your heart pumping in a month with a lot of hearts...yeah, I know, that was bad even for me...my daily challenge for the month will be: 150 x 2-armed kettlebell swings with a 20lb kettlebell.

That's my challenge. If 150 is too many for you, knock it down a notch. If 150 a day is too few, then crank up your limit. The two arm swing is also an exercise you could attempt with dumbbells or another weight of some sort if you don't have a kettlebell.

For those of you unfamiliar with kettlebells allow me to explain. A kettlebell is a lot like a cannonball with a handle. They come in a variety of sizes and weights and are intended to be a method of weight lifting/resistance training that uses multi-joint motions to avoid isolating and provide a more functional fitness. They are also a good way to hurt yourself if you are not careful. (there isn't much that hurts more than popping yourself in a sensitive spot with a flying 20lb handled-cannonball).

Watch the video and then give it a try. Be careful to keep your back straight and make sure that

you are using your hips and lower body to make the kettlebell move instead of your upper body and back. If you are having back pain, STOP, reexamine your swing and try again with proper form.

If you like kettlebells and are looking for more exercises you can see what else Phil has to offer with DV8 fitness. Or if you want someone who isn't boring and monotone you could try kbellqueen's youtube channel. There are also good resources out there like kettleworx, iron core fitness or if you want to get really intense try mike mahler... etc. etc. ad nauseum

Give it a try and enjoy the ride!

*gumption:

[guhmp-shuhn]

–noun Informal .

1.

initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness: With his gumptionhe'll make a success of himself.

2.

courage; spunk; guts: It takes gumption to quit a high-paying job.

3.

common sense; shrewdness.

Origin:
1710–20; orig. Scots

"Just do it?" Or "Just say no?"

I'm sick.

What to do, what to do?

It's mostly been a head cold so far, but it's been a nasty one and has stuck around for 5-6 days. Hopefully it's gone before tests start next week. I've been feeling like I could sleep for a day or two at a time every time I lay down, but I feel better each time I wake up (whether that's a nap or a night of sleep). Which leads to my question, one that many of us have posed over time: Is it okay for me to exercise when I'm sick?

Most often I've heard the "above the neck" recommendation that if your symptoms stay above your neck and don't seem to move into your chest when you exert yourself it's fine to keep on exercising. I've always felt fairly good about this and have passed it on quite frequently. I've used this guide for the first 4 days of being ill, but it seems to me now that I just need rest so that my body can deal with its invaders. Modern medicine, despite all its bells and whistles, is really aimed at creating ideal conditions for your body to work its magic and heal itself. I know that may be disappointing to some of you, but look at it this way...I'm saying that you have an amazing body. And since exercise is definitely a stressor on your body, taking a few days off might let my immune system kick it up a notch.

I can't help but hear Joe Friel echoing in my head "it's better to be over rested than overtrained..." In a situation like this, it's definitely true. I'm in the middle of base training, no impending races or events. I'm not going to have any significant deficit in my performance come spring time because I took a few days off to recover in January. Although it means the ego has to take a knock or two as I admit to myself and the world that I'm not superman afterall. On the other hand, if I don't take the time off and keep myself sick I may see a significant deficit in my performance when my first Physiology test rears its ugly head.

That's it. Problem solved. Early to bed early to rise...

Friction is not your friend

During my off season training I have been doing some running from time to time, and I am reminded of what I learned during my triathloning days...

Chafing is EVIL!

Let's be honest, when it comes to endurance sports, friction is not your friend. You're body does a lot of repetitive movements and whether it rubs against your equipment or itself the end result is not a happy one. To guard against this there are many options...

1) Appropriate clothing. When I run, I wear compression shorts. They are a handy way to wear a relatively seamless garment so that what I am wearing doesn't rub my legs and leave me raw. Likewise I never wear sleeveless shirts because they rub at my armpit and shoulder. On a bike this means having a good chamois in your shorts...and (for those of you who haven't learned it yet) no underwear in your shorts.

2) Chamois cream. For cycling, there's also chamois cream if you care to deal with such a mess. The products range from Chamois Butt'r to DZ nuts and all of them are a bit weird to get used to at first.

3) Body Glide. I have never used body glide, but I remember its rise during my triathlon days. It's a great product from what I understand. It started in the triathlon niche because when you start riding or running while wet you're at a higher risk for serious chafage, but as with all products the off label uses have sky rocketed as the product becomes more widespread.

Sometimes, though, despite your best efforts you wind up wounded in action. For those days I haven't found anything better than Aquaphor. I think they know it too, because there are several race packets that I have found with samples of the stuff. These are highly coveted. You may not think you need it; but when you do need it, you won't want to be without it.

Until next time, I hope you can safely slip through those sticky situations and stay friction free. Good luck.

The January Challenge 2011

I have now completed over 1500 push-ups and just as many or more sit-ups during 2011.

Yeah, I don't know the last time I did 1500 of something either. That number sounds staggering, but it's a piece of my January Challenge. It's something I just made up, but sounded a lot like me to do it. I decided that I was going to do 100 push-ups and 100 crunches a day for the month of January. I didn't think about the fact that by the time I finish the month I will have done over 3000 push-ups and sit-ups. That's a lot.

I'm not writing this to beat my chest. Instead I want to give you the chance to join me. Don't feel like you have to make up for lost time and do the 15 days worth that have already passed. Just jump right in. And if you're not up to 100 for the day, change the number and keep going. My wife is doing 50 a day of each (Yes she got dragged into another one of my bright ideas, but she's enjoying the results already!). They don't have to be all done at once or in a row. I like to do half in the morning and half at night or work them into my workout plan for the day.

What's the point?-you may ask. Is there a reward? The point is to have a challenge. That means the number you choose has to be a challenge to you. Who knows, by the end of the month it might not be that difficult any more. That sounds like a pretty good reward to me.

I think the challenge next month will involve kettlebell swings, but I'll let you know in February. Until then, enjoy the ride.

A Bad Plan is Better Plan Than No Plan

Yep, it's that time of year again. Time to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. Don't worry, I won't wax metaphysical or anything on you here. I'm talking about my training plan for the year.

Last year was my first real year of planning for the entire cycling season. In the past--2003-2009ish--it had always looked something like this....

1) Snow Melts, Craig goes outside again and starts running or something. (Remember that's can be as late as April in Minnesota)

2) School lets out, Craig starts riding his bike and sometimes triathloning as early as one week after school ends. (those June races were never too pretty)

3) Go like crazy all summer, usually facing the danger of burn-out sometime around the 3rd week in July while the race schedule has a lull

4) Peak in mid August (usually with high aspirations for the Turtleman Triathlon)

5) Go back to school in September and let the fitness slowly fade through the cold white months of winter.

6) Repeat steps 1-5.

So what made the big difference last year, you ask? A Christmas present, I tell you. No ordinary one at that. I got a copy of The Cyclist's Training Bible, by Joe Friel. It's a fantastic read and one of the best things I learned while reading was to make goals and plans for the season. Then structure my training plan around those goals. This may seem basic, but taking the time to actually sit down and do it is something that most of us never do.

The next part is the hard part. Learning from your results of the year before. That's where I'm at now and am trying to figure out how to layout this next year. The other difficult aspect is that I've now moved to Wisconsin and don't know the race calendar around here. I think that my main goal for the year will be to peak around the second weekend in July because that's when Superweek comes to town around here. I got to race in one Superweek event in Geneva, IL last year and it was lots of fun. We'll see if I can give it a go again this summer, maybe with a race in the Tour of America's Dairyland as an appetizer.

If you've never taken the time to make long term fitness goals or plans, do it. You won't regret it. Because the plan is aimed several months out, it's important as you go to evaluate it's effectiveness and tweak it as necessary. What's the worst that could happen, you learn something about yourself? After all, the only plan worse than a bad one is no plan.

Antioxidants: who needs 'em?

The name antioxidants implies that they are against oxidants. But why would you be anti-oxidant? Is there anyone out there who is pro-oxidant?


Let's start with the basics:


As your body works and metabolizes fuel (makes energy) it also produces reactive oxygen species, or ROS. Not to be confused with ROUS's (I don't even believe they exist). You may have also heard of them as Free Radicals. Your body makes them all the time during metabolism and when your metabolic needs increase when you are more active your ROS production increases too. Whatever the name is, most people agree that it is good to keep them in check. You see, generally your body oxidizes metabolites in order to break them down. Oxygen, as you may have inferred by the theme in naming here, is really good at oxidizing. The problem is when you have ROS attacking things in your body that they shouldn't attack...like your cells.


An antioxidant, then, is something that gets oxidized to stop your body from being damaged by getting oxidized. Some common simple antioxidants include Vitamin C and Vitamin E but there are many more that the body uses. In some ways it makes an antioxidant like a bodyguard taking a bullet for you.


The theory behind supplementing antioxidants is pretty sound, try and stop the dangerous ROS flying around by upping the number of body guards (antioxidants) in the system. But the proof is a bit lacking.


If we move on to the current evidence we see:


One study in Spain (M.E. Munoz et al. / Toxicology 278 (2010) 101–111) published recently, showed that there was a benefit for elderly exercisers whose body's natural defense mechanisms were a little worn out. But then again these participants were sedentary to begin with and the study was sponsored by the antioxidant drink that the participants were taking during the study.


Another study done by University of Wisconsin-Madison said the opposite, that perhaps helping your body deal with antioxidants stops your body from making other good adaptations to exercise. Most benefits from exercise actually come from stressing your body which includes the production of ROS. When you let your body recover from this stress, your body generally rebuilds itself as strong or stronger than before which is what allows for increased performance. Yet another more recent study in Germany echoed these findings by showing that exercisers who supplemented with antioxidants had less of an increase in insulin sensitivity than exercisers who did not take antioxidants. That means that antioxidant supplementation could actually decrease the effectiveness of exercise for managing Type 2 diabetes.


Finally, the idea of taking antioxidants as a daily supplement or in your multivitamin has lost a little bit of its credence since an article in JAMA came out that showed daily doses of antioxidant substances ranging from beta-carotene to Vitamin E may actually do more harm than good as a preventative measure.


The conclusion:


...a bit fuzzy. Antioxidants have reached craze status, this is confirmed by the fact that the word antioxidants has become a marketing catch phrase and is plastered all over everything from breakfast cereal to green tea. The science behind them is convincing, but as it turns out your body is pretty good at managing on its own.


Even in an event like an Ironman Triathlon, where there is a very significant increase in ROS production, healthy well trained athletes "experience no adverse health risks regarding oxidative stress" (Toxicology. 2010 Dec 5;278(2):211-6. Epub 2009 Sep 18). So for all of you endurance athletes out there who see Lance Armstrong drinking FRS in the commercials, don't be too quick to join the antioxidant party.


As with all fitness fads, it's best to give it a little time before following the crowd. That allows the scientists some time to straighten out the theory from the practice. And don't think the decision here is final. I'm sure it will be some time before this all really gets figured out and we stop going back and forth on what we think is best. Until then I'd say it's best to stick with what has lasted the test of time. Let your body do what it's been made to do by training regularly. It'll give you the jump on ROS you're looking for instead of dumping in extra unnecessary antioxidant supplements and relying on those to do the work for you. Then again, that's just my opinion and I'm no professional... at least not yet.

FitDeck

No cash for a personal trainer? No time to figure out what kind of exercise you should be doing? No problem.

I'm kind of a freak in that one of the things that I really enjoy is planning workouts and then actually doing them. Most people struggle with figuring out what they should do, how long they should do it, when they should do it etc. And if you get far enough to figure all that out it burns a lot of energy needed to overcome the exercise inertia that keeps you from going out and doing it.

Enter the FitDeck. It's a pretty nifty little idea if you ask me. A FitDeck is a deck of 30-50 odd playing cards designed to create a workout for you. There are all sorts of different kinds. Take the "bodyweight workout" set for instance. There are 50 different bodyweight exercises. You just draw however many you want to do and go to work on your very own circuit workout. Each card is intended to take about a minute of time. So in 30 minutes you could do a 10 exercise circuit 3 times or just do 30 different exercises. Pretty cool, eh? I thought so, I got a Pilates set for my wife for Christmas.

They have all different kinds to choose from, bodyweight, kettlebell, Navy SEAL, exercise ball etc. Even sport specific decks like Swimming, Soccer or Basketball. The guy who came up with the FitDeck is an ex-Navy SEAL so he knows a thing or two about being in shape. Most of them are designed around having minimal or no equipment which makes them even easier to use than if you had to bring it to the gym.

I'm all about making it easy to do a hard workout--if you know what I mean--and this makes it easy to do without needing to plan it out or find a trainer to figure it out for you. So if you need a little help getting your goals taken care of a FitDeck might just be the boost you need.

By the way, I'm not getting anything from FitDeck for writing this. I just thought it was cool

Making Plans

Whew, just in time for the new year. I can't think of any other time of year that this might be more appropriate than just before everyone is making their New Year Resolutions. Before you scoff and tell me you think it's cliche or that resolutions are just good intentions without anything to back them up think about it for just a moment.

While there is nothing special about the New Year as far as a health or fitness perspective it's not a bad thing to take the chance to make some goals for the upcoming 12 months. The important thing is to distinguish between goals and dreams.

Goals are specific. They have a plan of action to bring them to fruition and a way to measure if they have actually been attained. Dreams on the other hand are unattainable, unrealistic and if you really take the time to think about it are not something that you would ever even expect to happen.

Let's give an example. One of my goals two years ago was to run a 45 min 10k race. To do this I prepared for several months. I planned my weekly runs and set up a schedule to follow so that I would be ready for my big run. On the day of the race I knew how to measure my success. If the clock was over 45 minutes when I crossed the line I had failed and if it was under 45 minutes then I had succeeded. My plan was specific and my goal was measurable. I had some experience running prior to this. It wasn't like I was just trying to start as someone who never ran or only jogged a 12 min/mile pace before this, so I knew that this was within my reach. Thankfully, I attained my goal. I made it to the finish with less than 5 seconds to spare.

Now a dream of mine has always been to be in the Tour de France. This obviously is not going to happen. No matter how much I train, it's just not a possibility. I'm in my mid 20's, I have raced my bike for one year so far and am only a Cat 4 racer. Riding in Le Tour just is not an option for me. But I can dream, can't I?

Another important part of setting reasonable goals is using the right scale to measure them. You would never measure the growth of a tree in seconds. It would be absurd. The same is true for fitness or nutrition goals, you need to measure with a calendar, not a clock.

So even if you are adverse to making a New Year's Resolution, think about all this the next time you make plans for life whether they are in your work or play. Aim high, but have a plan for how to achieve it and measure it when you get there so that you don't spend all of your energy towards something you discover to be just a dream.

Shovelglove!

About a year ago while doing some research about kettlebells I stumbled across an ingenious invention. The shovelglove. If you want to talk about functional fitness this is functional fitness meets MacGyver.

It all started with a fella who was a bit out of shape, but lacking the motivation to leave the house and go somewhere to exercise. Nevertheless his desire to get his butt back in gear overcame the exercise inertia that had him sitting around and he devised shovelglove. Here's a little excerpt of his story...

"I wanted an exercise I could do right there, in my bedroom, without any fancy equipment.

But I didn't want to do sit-ups or pushups. I didn't want to grovel on my stomach on the floor, like some degraded beast. "There must be some kind of movement I can do standing up, with the dignity of a human being," I thought, "some kind of movement that is natural and interesting, that my body would like to do."

I started making all kinds of spastic movements, hoping to come across something that resonated. I remembered reading something in some French novel about coal shovelers having the best abdominal muscles of anyone the author had ever seen. I started making shoveling motions.

Now there are a few problems with shoveling, from an exercise perspective. For one, if I actually went outside and started shoveling, I'd get all wet (remember, it's raining). The neighbors would think I was crazy, and if I did it at the wrong time I'd actually annoy them. I'd also have to have something to shovel, a waste of space, at least (our backyard is more of back alley). So outdoors is out. But I couldn't really shovel indoors, either. Even if I just did a pantomime with a shovel, I'd need some kind of weight to move, and I'd need some way of keeping it from scratching the floors or killing the cats."

And out of such turmoil and chaos came the shovelglove. Of course if you want to learn more you'll have to visit the website. (By the way, his website is considerably more enjoyable reading than just about anything else you'll waste 5 minutes on today so it's worth a peek.)

A shovelglove then, is just a sledgehammer with the head wrapped in a sweater or towel so that you don't brain yourself or scratch up the floors. The idea behind it is to mimic movements you might otherwise do in "real life" like shoveling, chopping wood, lifting luggage etc. It's really not unlike the new clubbells that are out and being used by the kettlebell types. By doing swinging motions with a free weight that has a center of gravity away from your body it engages several muscles involved in range of motion and works more than just a single muscle group at a time; the same concept that has made kettlebells so popular and effective.

I have yet to try it. My beautiful wife is a little skeptical that I won't wind up putting a whole in the wall...or ceiling...or my face. However, the idea sounds great and I'm confident that my powers of persuasion will win out sooner or later.

While you may not be signing up for a shovelglove class at the local gym anytime soon this shovelglove fella may just be on to something. He even has his own YouTube Channel.

Dare I say, "try it?"

Another good reason to train your core

Ever heard of "Dead Butt Syndrome?" Yeah, neither had I, but it's legit. NYTimes author Jen Miller just wrote an interesting little blurb about her problems with her gluteus medius and I have to say that recently, I can relate a little. Quite conveniently, during the week of a lecture on the lower extremity I noticed some funny pain in my right hip. It turns out my gluteus medius was a bit unprepared for my cross training season.

The problem boils down to this: As an athlete works their legs, they frequently neglect their core which includes the butt muscles. The butt muscles or gluteal muscles are some of the most important, though, especially for runners because they stabilize the pelvis which is the platform for everything that you do. The most important muscles to do this for running are the gluteus medius and minimus (but mostly the medius). When you have a weak gluteus medius your pelvis tilts instead of remaining level.

A quick way to test is to try and balance on one leg. This may be enough to make your pelvis tilt (although it may not be as dramatic as the diagram). If that's not enough, try doing a one leg squat, if your knee turns or bends in towards your midline ("valgus knee") then the odds are good that your hips could use some strengthening. If you still aren't convinced lay on your side and open your legs like a scissors. Have someone push down steadily and firmly but not violently on your leg while you try to keep them open. I was shocked to learn how much weaker my right side really was compared to my left.

Here are a few suggestions.

1) The clamshell

For this exercise you should lay on your side with your knees bent and open your knees like a clamshell.

As you can see by the thrilled look on this guy's face it's not the coolest exercise, but it's practical.

2) Glut Bridge

You can call this whatever you want, a bridge, a butt lift, all the same it's good work for your backside. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tensing your butt muscles lift your body so that you make a triangle (your feet/shins and the floor should make a right angle and your body is the hypotenuse).

3)Tight rope walk/Dumbbell walkouts

Don't worry you don't have to have access to a sky scraper to do this one, just a couple dumbbells. Take two dumbbells between 8 and 20 pounds each (start light) and walk around heel to toe like your are balancing on a tightrope. This may not seem like a lot, but because your toes are in line you must stabilize your pelvis with every step. You can see a video here.

Doing 2-3 sets of these exercises with 8-20 reps per set 3-5 times a week will work wonders. Another important aspect of taking care of your hips is to be sure and stretch. Just a little bit of extra time each day doing these exercises and stretching could mean the difference between playing and sitting on the sidelines.

For more core workouts and butt rehab try here and if you specifically are looking for a runner's core workout check out this workout at the Runner's World website.

Exercise as an appetizer for breakfast

I read last week in the NYTimes about a recent study in the Journal of Physiology did an interesting experiment involving athletes and timing of exercise compared to when they ate breakfast. During the experiment they fed three groups of athletes a diet with an excess of calories which means that each group was expected to gain weight.

The first group did no exercise for the six weeks of the experiment and ate 30% more calories than would be appropriate for their need. In the end they gained an average of 6+ pounds (big surprise, huh?). Moreover, they saw in just those six weeks a decrease in insulin sensitivity, which is considered main causal problem in Type 2 diabetes.

The second group ate their excess calories in carbohydrate and ate carbs during exercise. Not terribly dissimilar from what a normal athlete would do other than eating excess calories. The results for this group were kind of boring. They gained a little weight because of the excess calories, but the rest of the findings were just kind of blah.

The third group, though, that exercise before breakfast and didn't eat anything during exercise was really interesting. They found that this group not only didn't gain a significant amount of weight, but the group also had increased insulin sensitivity and increased fatty acid oxidation (they used fat better for fuel). Their conclusion was somewhat novel (and a little cocky): "This study for the first time shows that fasted training is more potent than fed training to facilitate adaptations in muscle and to improve whole-body glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity during hyper-caloric fat-rich diet."

Really it is a pretty cool thing to find out. Lots of athletes know that when they need to drop a little weight, they do a little extra exercise in the morning before breakfast. Bradley Wiggins for instance talked about this being a normal thing for him when he's getting ready to drop a pound or two in preparation for a big race. This study had subjects doing 60-90 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise which is no small thing. However, the results are also no small thing. If they really hold true, this could be a nice prophylaxis for the holiday season when we are all a little prone to eating more than normal.

One caveat, don't expect your all time greatest results when you exercise before eating or without eating. You can only last so long without fuel and this method essentially has you running on E. If you decide to try it, start easier and work up to your limit instead of just blowing up on your first try.

Swiss Ball Stunts

Apparently there is this whole world of swiss ball stunts...and even acrobatics.

Needless to say, given my level of amateurity, I'm not quite there yet.

Swiss Ball: Not even remotely related to Swiss Cake Rolls.

It's still cross training season.

Which means I'm looking for ways to build some strength, maintain at least a minimal amount of aerobic fitness and try not to cry when I think about how long it could be before I get back on the open road with my bike.

One special area of interest during this time of year is core strength. My new secret weapon, the Swiss Ball (aka Fitball, exercise ball etc.). Please see below:

Core strength is especially important for a guy like me who spends long hours on a bike saddle or long hours hunched over study materials because it creates a platform for power when I'm bike riding and helps prevent back pain when I'm just sitting. I once heard the best way to eliminate low back pain is to eliminate your lower front. Now good posture, appropriate shoes and an expensive desk chair don't hurt; but when you're looking for the most bang for your buck you can't beat increased core fitness.

The Swiss exercise ball is one trick that I'm sure I can count on. Not only because of the good shape that regular ball users get into with these exercises but also because these exercises are difficult. Really difficult. If you don't believe me, try it. What have you got to lose? (besides maybe your lower front...)

For more face-breakingly difficult exercises check out these killer core exercises.