Mixing it up

Well the snow showed up, with that said it was time to embrace it and make some adventure. My wife Lisa and I went to bed early the night before, got up at 4:00am (well I got up at 4:00). Caffeinated and carbed up we left in a warmed up car. We headed off to the "Whites" to snow shoe up Mount Chocorua, not a very tall peak but picturesque. We were in the woods by 7:00am, we hit it hard and fast arriving back to the car by 11:00am. After 7 miles and topping an extremely windy peak we headed into Lincoln for some espresso and tea.

The hike made for some good low level endurance training and leg work. Best of all it was a beautiful day full of fresh air. Enjoy the view.

Block Training

Block training most likely has several meanings, for the purpose of this discussion it involves training with multiple modalities in one session. Tri-athletes use this type of training session to get ready for their multi-event competitions. Any athlete for that matter can use and greatly benefit from block training. It is especially useful during the off season to keep your endurance up and give you that little edge to stay sharp. I like it for winter training because it is a great endurance work-out without spending hours on the indoor spinner.

Things to consider

• Be creative and think out a plan; you need to come up with a way to perform at least 3 activities/modalities (it can be 2), and perform them successively with little to no down/recovery time.
• Set up everything you need ahead of time for a quick and easy transition, this includes nutrition.
• Set-up the sequence so that your primary sport is either the second or third activity. In the beginning it's best to have your primary sport be the second activity along with the longest duration, using the third activity to polish it off (or I should say finish you off).
• Try keep in mind as you fatigue the last activity should not require much strenuous effort.

Example: Monday 2-16-09 work-out

1. Swim at the gym 45 minutes.

2. Ride fixed gear for 1 hour, focus on the flats and cadence.

3. Snow shoe up and down steep climb with some flats for 45 minutes.

Total time: 2 hours and 30minutes.

Other ideas: Cross country skiing, various indoor CV machines combined with swimming, Martial Arts classes (with a focus on consistent movement), combine weight training (15-20 reps with 2 sets) with CV.

Be creative, make it fun and you'll have a great endurance work-out and you won't get board!

Important: When using a heart rate monitor your heart zones will be different through-out the various modalities/activities. Your zones for biking are going to be different when compared to cross country skiing and so on. Monitor your HR but work with-in the limits of your aerobic zone, you should be able to carry on a conversation with labored breathing, if you have to pause or catch your breath to talk you are working to hard for this type of work-out.

Cross Training with Elipticals & Stairmasters

With a snow storm on the way and continued snow showers for the remainder of the week. It looks as if I'll be doing some cross training on the elliptical and StairMaster machines. They are great modalities that resembles the out of saddle pedaling S.Ser's spend so much time doing. In addition you can tailor the work-out to be a strength/resistance work-out; by focusing on high resistance with low rpm/cadence.

*Note on StairMaster; increasing the load actually forces the pedals to move quicker. This negates the slower cadence and resistance. You can keep the cadence slow and elongate your step-up stride, by keeping the level on the lower end, experiment and see what works for you.

Typical Work-out

• Warm-up for a solid 10-12 min. @ 50-60% ending at 70% HR.max
• Perform 4 to 5 - Two minute intervals at a hard effort ~ 85% HR.max (Focus on Work Load/Resistance), rest for One -Two minutes depending on your recovery. The idea is to perform the successive intervals with consistent power and strength.
• Cool Down for a solid 10 minutes

I would suggest performing this work-out once a week, anything more will take away from what your current program has to offer.

I find this type of work-out to be good for developing and maintaining strength, it is relatively short yet productive. Indoor work-outs can be boring so I like to keep them short, intense, and break them up by utilizing different machines. Rowing is another super modality. The movement involves all the muscles used for S.S., but I would encourage taking a quick lesson. I was fortunate to get some pointers from a collegiate coach and there is truly some advantages to the work-out when the movement is performed correctly.

Putting things together

With a few free moments this morning I've begun to spruce up the site. To get the mood flowing I've posted some various pics. Nothing over the top, just some inspiration. The first pic is of my buddy Ross's new Rocky, during the final shake down before a great ride at Burke, VT back in the fall. Yeah, it's got gears and suspension but it's a sweet ride.

As for training advice; single speeders need to be conscious of their knees. Knee warmers are your best friend, many sources recommend wearing knee warmers below 60 degrees. Sounds extreme but a good idea at least until your warm and the "synovial fluid" in the knees has circulated within the joint. I've worn knee warmers for extended rides in temps around 60 without any discomfort. Why, joints don't get their nutrient supply directly from blood flow. They are dependent on rhythmic movement which helps to bathe the joint with synovial fluid. Synovial fluid is derived from the filtration of blood from the surrounding capillary beds around the joint. With a graded warm-up and the insulating effect from knee warmers, the knees will get the lubricating properties and nutrients needed (hyaluronic acid) to help maintain good joint health. But remember the entire body benefits from a solid graded warm-up; Ankle, Hip, and Shoulder joints get worked when Single Speeding.

Intro: First outdoor ride for 09

I've been messing with the idea to start one of these blogs, here it goes. I hope to post and discuss training ideas and injury prevention and rehab that tends to plague single speed mtbing.

But as for today, I'm still groovin on my first outdoor ride of the 09 season. I got out for a short 1 hour ride on my fixy, and it felt so good to be out in the sun breathing some fresh air. New Hampshire is OK and all, but the long winters can certainly mess with your head. The whole time during the ride I thought of my summer vacation touring Martha's Vineyard on the fixy. Thinking warm thoughts on the beach.