Category: Strength Training

Proceed with Caution…

 In typical Kim zero to sixty ASAP fashion, I’ve gone from months of slug like behavior to biking or lifting weights 6 of the last 7 days. And the strength training program is lower body dominant. I just returned from. Derby party and can barely move. Tired. Sore.

Over training is what lead to my shoulder issues. I feel so damn good when I am working out that I quickly go gung ho. It’s something I have to watch. The irony is i burn myself out, start feeling like crap and then forget how doing proper training or regular exercise Right now I’m just exhausted. I’ve been good about sleep, and food has been pretty spot on. Not trackin food now so have no clue to calories in, but dont hink im in a hard deficit. So far not in a bad place (as if one week of training could affect me that badly this quickly). In the past the first signs of over training  are trouble sleeping. Probably a cortisol stress reaction. A year ago I ignored this sign and the ver increasing shoulder pain until that compounded the keep issues.

Plan now is to kick back and rest tonight, hopefully sleep in tomorrow. Sounds like the boys want to go ride the Kettles. Which is fine. I need to ride demon Bermuda and squash that demon. Neither Hubby nor Kiddo have been riding this year, so shouldn’t be at a fast pace, and will include plenty of rest. The big benefit of me doing my own rides is I won’t feel so much like we’re wasting the ride by not pushing. That feeling has lead to some less thn optimal attitude on family rides in the past. Imagine that, me with my bitch on. Never happens.

Did another strong curves work out yesterday. Oh. My. For what seems very easy simple, low key routines, they sure as hell activat the glutes (and hamstrings and hip flexor) with just enough big muscle upper body work to balance thing out. No stupid bicep o tricep isolation work (as I I need bigger upper arms. Yuck.) Great core work, too.  Both typical abs but also back. Like it so far.

Today’s ride was to and from Kiddos baseball game with detours around The Mitchell and Fox Brook trails and an extension over to Calhoun and back.  If I’m gonna ride pavement I do like this route. Was riding Coda, not a mountain bike. Realize I need some cadence sensors. I can tell since getting rid of Dolce (my roadie) I’m fallin back ino my less than optimal but nature 60rpm cadence as opposed to the 85-90 I’d worked so hard to cultivate. Just another thing to work on.

Striving for Consistency vs. Perfection

I have this tendency to let a desire to do things perfectly derail me. It shows up sometimes as procrastination (that old fear of failure thing or even a fear of success), other times as built in excuse to stop doing something or to do things I know I shouldn’t. After all, you can’t do it perfectly, why bother, right? I think everyone struggles a bit with the later. The old, “I just ate a piece of pizza, might as well eat what I want all weekend and get back on track on Monday” thing. The problem for me is that Monday never comes. Or rather comes and goes and goes and goes….

As I re-commit to training, I have to work on making consistency my focus as opposed to getting lost in a desire for perfection. I saw this already starting to happen this week. I’d combined the desire to start this new program with words from Keifer (www.dangerouslyhardcore.com) about late afternoon being best time to work out. I knew Kiddo had his first Little League baseball game at 5:30. Knew that I’d be pushing it to leave work earlier enough to get him to the field, let alone sneak in a workout before. But yet, I still had myself convinced I had to work out in the afternoon. That if I was going to do this, I must do it perfectly.

Obviously, this wasn’t happening, and by Monday evening, I was this close to fuck it, I’ll never get this right, why bother. My nicely equipped but lonely home gym would continue unused.

Thankfully, Tuesday was another day. Copies made and posted of the workout and warm-up cue sheets. Daily logs printed. Best of all Week1 Workout A accomplished  It felt good to sweat, to lift some weight. The program is interesting in that warm-up includes foam rolling or other myofascial release moves, static stretches, dynamic activation and mobility work. Looking at the work outs, I think I’m going to like this program. Even if I still always feel like a beached whale trying to roll around on that instrument of torture known as a foam roller. Yes, it does hurt so good.

Bottom line, I know I’m going to continue to struggle with finding the “perfect” time to work out. My schedule is never consistent. I travel frequently. Kiddo’s activity schedules change. Stuff comes up. Life gets in the way. But I know I must find that time. Be consistent.