I'm Back!

Wow, it's been a whole year since I posted! I've been active, though. I'm now training for the LA Marathon and have been lifting weights for a while. I can run 5 miles in under an hour, so that's a good pace since I'm aiming to run the marathon in under 6 hours. I hadn't run a mile since high school (over 10 years) so I'm really hyped about my new found endurance.

My weightlifting is really what's holding it together, though. My bench press is up to over 300 lbs. I haven't maxed out, but I suspect that I can probably hit 330 or so 1 time. I can curl over 120 lbs. I can shoulder press over 200 pounds, but I need to be careful with that because I slightly tweaked my back during my last set (my fault - bad form). Progress at the gym is coming on strong and it's starting to show!

My pants fit better... but my shirts are getting a bit tight and for the first time, that's a good thing. I need to buy XXL shirts because my chest and arms have really expanded while my waist has lost a few inches. Overall, I feel GREAT!

As a recommendation, pick up the following 2 books:
The Wisdom Of Mike MentzerHigh Intensity Training The Mike Mentzer Way

Mike Mentzer was a true pioneer in the science of bodybuilding. I've read both books and have successfully used Mike's approach to lifting, annoying my friends who spend countless hours performing mind numbing set after set. I get into the gym, lift for 20 - 30 minutes TOPS, and don't show up for another week. In the process, I can lift heavier weights than my buddies who have been training for a longer time than me.

I know training for the marathon does not fit into Mike's overall philosophy (and I can understand why), but it is something that I've always wanted to do. I only run twice a week in order to not totally deplete my energy reserves, but I know it takes a toll. I workout so hard that I am drained for a few days afterwards, so my running progress is coming a bit slow. I do ride my bike, but the majority of my training is lifting and running.

Mentzer feels that aerobic exercise is counterproductive because of the large amount of energy reserves that it depletes, while not really complimenting a bodybuilding program. He feels that it is also too hard on the body (I can attest to that) and therefore is not fundamentally healthy. He sites research that shows that training with heavy weights and heavy intensity is enough to stimulate the cardiovascular system. I need to do more research into this line of thought, but I know that my weight lifting has strengthened my running.

Mike Mentzer was a true genius; read his books and you'll know what I mean. He was also a philosopher and an excellent writer. His logical approach to training is what drew me back to the iron game and I can attest to the success of his methods. Do yourself a favor and check out his website and get his books:

http://mikementzer.com/

Tursday, 8 pm

Finally got to workout before 9 pm, and it was a good workout. I will not be able to workout tomorrw because I am attending a function, so I decided to make tonight a good long ride.

Here's what I did:
1 hr.
159 avg HR
184 max HR
859 calories lost

I was watching boxing so that kind of helped. It was also a cool and breeze night here in Los Angeles, so I situated my bike by an open window and was comfortable the whole workout.

Wednesday, 8 pm

My legs are a bit sore from my Monday and Tuesday workouts, so I'm sitting today out. I'll do some push-ups, dumbbell curls, shoulder presses, and some stretching. I'm up to 30 push-ups per set. I'm hoping to be able to do over 50 soon.

Tuesday, 10 pm

I had another great workout today. I kept it short because I had some e-mails to take care of. I was aiming for a heart rate between 139 - 150, but I felt good so exceeded that.

Here's what I did:
30 mins.
153 avg HR
170 max HR
302 calories lost

A brief but good workout.

Monday, 10 pm

Monday's are tough. I was thinking of working out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, while skipping Mondays and Fridays. I would then do a light spin on either Saturday or Sunday. However, I felt good since I didn't workout yesterday, so I got on the bike and had a good workout.

Here's what I did:
32 mins.
160 avg HR
182 max HR
520 calories lost.

I spun at a high cadence and avoided any sprints. Overall, a great workout.

HR Workout Zones

Here are the recommended heart rate training zones. They are all based on your maximum heart rate:

Zone 1
60-65% - Development of economy and efficiency with very high volume, low stress work. Very long sessions improve the combustion and storage of fats. Combine with Zone 2 for practical unstructured low stress rides.

Zone 2
65-75% - Development of economy and efficiency with high volume, moderate stress work. An important intensity for establishing a firm base for all riders. Combine with Zone 1 for practical unstructured low stress rides

Zone 3
75-82% - Development of aerobic capacity and endurance with moderate volume work at a controlled intensity. Should be done alone or in a small group to stay in zone. Possible (but boring) on a turbo trainer for up to one hour in bad weather. 'Modules' can be incorporated into Zone 1 or 2 rides to increase intensity whilst maintaining volume.

Zone 4
82-89% - Typical 'mean' intensity of most road races. Useful for tapering and as preparation, to simulate race pace, rather than as training. Sessions should be ended when the effort starts to tell.

Zone 5
89-94% - Raising of anaerobic threshold, improvement of lactate clearance and adaptation to race speed. Should be done alone and:

1. as a specific road or 'turbo' session or
2. for controlled periods within a shortened Zone 1 or 2 session or
3. in a 10 or 25 mile time trial.

Zone 6
94-100% - High intensity interval training to increase maximum power and improve lactate production or clearance. Probably best done on hills or a 'turbo' trainer.

• Should be done only when completely recovered from previous work.
• Heart rates are not the best guide for this type of training. Intensity should be such that the effort can just be held to the end of the interval. Ride on feel and use heart rate for feedback.

Saturday, 11 pm

It is now very late and I had a long day. We went to the Los Angeles Health Expo in the downtown Convention Center. We walked around all day and I almost justified that as enough of a workout and considered skipping tonight. However, I took a day off yesterday so I knew I had to get home and spin. After mulling around my place for a bit, I did manage to get a good workout. I spent some time taking care of some business after my workout, which is why I'm now posting at a little after 1 am.

Anyway, here's what I did tonight:
44 mins.
141 avg HR
207 max HR - this was from my sprint at 43:30 into my workout
506 calories spent.

I was surprised by my 207 max heart rate reading. My fitness test stated that I only had a 185 max, so I was not expecting anything past 190. Also, I tried to stay at Zone 2, which is 75% of my max heart rate and only an average 139 HR. I kept looking at my heart rate monitor and had to keep slowing down and dropping the resistance on my spinning bike. I felt like I could have kept on going so I like this new workout. Varying the time spent in the different training zones is more productive than just going all out each time I jump on the bike, so I'm going to fight the urge to go harder each workout. I'll post the different training zones later along with some suggested workouts.

I learned at the Health Expo that my blood pressure is 122/74, which is very healthy. I know I'm a big guy, but I do carry some muscle around and I know my spinning is doing my heart and lungs some good. I'm excited by the prospects and motivated to keep going. So a good week; 3 workouts it 4 days after recovering from being sick. I feel great so I'm looking forward to having a good workout tomorrow.