Powerjumps and MACs... nothing too complicated tonight! The powerjumps were 1/4 lap, react to the lead rider, three thereof with three of us in the group so we each got a turn in each position. Nobody overtook anyone else, top speeds for me after 62.5m from ~15km/hr were all about 42-44 km/hr (on 86"), and the new Look Keos were fine - which is to say, I was fine in them!
MACs were also good - 250 followed by 375. The 250 I hit the roller 3 times in the windup, and again had to avoid the back of the bike on the catch, for a top of 59.8 on 99". The 375 was better, in that I only hit the roller the once in the windup, and the bike was going faster - which meant more chasing/less drafting, and more effort. So even though it was a longer effort, I still hit a higher top speed of 61.0/131RPM. Not so satisfying those numbers though, must get them higher.
At the end of the session I decided to join in the 'extra' gate starts - and promptly pulled a wheel. Annoying. It'd been fine all night, so the only thing I can think of is that it was fine for lower-power efforts like the MACs, or it wasn't quite in straight and so as I rode it worked itself ever so slightly loose. Should've checked it before I did them, but I'd done it up as tightly as I possibly could in the first place. Sigh. I keep on missing bits in this sort of way. Not that gate starts are essential, but they're useful additions and good for working strength on the bike rather than in the gym. Ah well. Not like I'm aiming for the Olympics I guess, but still, I'm not just here for shits and giggles!
Brief stats here.
31 July 2011
30 July 2011
They might be giants
Well, if I'm going to... nah, let's be honest, it's just the music that my daughter has playing at the moment and I couldn't be bothered thinking of another band!
Not much to report from today really. It's all getting heavy, which is at this stage helping my powerclean form, making it more obvious if I pull with the arms rather than jumping and shrugging and so on. The 4th and 5th rep of each bench workset were slower than the rest, and the difference between a good squat and a bad squat is more apparent, too. Which is all good, because it's at this point that strength actually starts growing, as the lifts become more difficult. Excellent!
Squat: 3x5x75kg
Bench: 3x5x65kg
Powerclean: 3x4x50kg
Not much to report from today really. It's all getting heavy, which is at this stage helping my powerclean form, making it more obvious if I pull with the arms rather than jumping and shrugging and so on. The 4th and 5th rep of each bench workset were slower than the rest, and the difference between a good squat and a bad squat is more apparent, too. Which is all good, because it's at this point that strength actually starts growing, as the lifts become more difficult. Excellent!
Squat: 3x5x75kg
Bench: 3x5x65kg
Powerclean: 3x4x50kg
29 July 2011
Ti-red
Felt tired today - I think my recovery from Tuesday was sub-optimal, as I was starving on Wednesday and have felt a little lethargic. Trying to make up for that in eating today! I've also spent much of the week trying to get my speedplay cleats off my shoes, and have had to resort to trying to drill the screws out. Even that's taking some time! In the meantime I did the session today with two screws out at the back, and still it felt secure through the standing starts. If I don't get them out tomorrow, I may have to do Sundays DISC session in runners and flatties...
Anyway, numbers weren't too too bad in most areas despite tiredness - the first standing start was back down to the levels of the previous week, with a best of 142/64.4. The other seated standing starts (as it were) were more similar, one or two RPM down on Tuesday, topping out at 159/71.2. The RS was slightly higher, with a best of 159/66.3. The PGRS was also the same, while the final HCLR was about 10RPM lower in the final 'sprint'. So overall a solid session, and possibly an indication that the standing results from Tuesday were slightly anomalous - or possibly, an indication of what I can do when I get it right! The numbers continue, overall, to go up...
Brief stats here.
Anyway, numbers weren't too too bad in most areas despite tiredness - the first standing start was back down to the levels of the previous week, with a best of 142/64.4. The other seated standing starts (as it were) were more similar, one or two RPM down on Tuesday, topping out at 159/71.2. The RS was slightly higher, with a best of 159/66.3. The PGRS was also the same, while the final HCLR was about 10RPM lower in the final 'sprint'. So overall a solid session, and possibly an indication that the standing results from Tuesday were slightly anomalous - or possibly, an indication of what I can do when I get it right! The numbers continue, overall, to go up...
Brief stats here.
26 July 2011
Monster Mash
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 6s PG+12" SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+12" SS seated:3
:22 2 x 6s PG+6" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 7s PG+12" SS seated:3
:34 25s PG RS(80)
:42 1 x 35s HCLR r/up 10:110, 10:135, 15:max
A fairly similar program to last week, lots of strength work involving standing starts. I was quite happy with the session today, which felt generally stronger and more focussed than even the session at Blackburn.
Numbers were good - up to 154/68.5 for the first PG+12 SS, compared to a best of 146/65.2 last week. The PG+6 RS gave a high of 158/65.8 compared to 153/64.4 last week. Again, the seated SSs were higher than the standing versions, probably because of needing to sit down on my trainer due to stability issues and just plain getting to higher cadences, and the lighter flywheel meaning I just don't have to push as hard to get going. A top of 161/72.6 was pleasing, though.
The 25s PGRS effort I wasn't entirely sure what to do, so I just did it as a 5,10,10 rampup and hit a top of 138. HCLR rampup was good, just went all-out in the last ten seconds and hit, apparently, 195 - I wasn't looking at the time, and it seems like potentially a spike though garmin and golden cheetah both agree. At any rate, it was at least 184 which is what I hit in the warmup, so nice to hit those levels again at the end.
Brief stats here.
:10 2 x 6s PG+12" SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+12" SS seated:3
:22 2 x 6s PG+6" RS (60rpm):3
:28 2 x 7s PG+12" SS seated:3
:34 25s PG RS(80)
:42 1 x 35s HCLR r/up 10:110, 10:135, 15:max
A fairly similar program to last week, lots of strength work involving standing starts. I was quite happy with the session today, which felt generally stronger and more focussed than even the session at Blackburn.
Numbers were good - up to 154/68.5 for the first PG+12 SS, compared to a best of 146/65.2 last week. The PG+6 RS gave a high of 158/65.8 compared to 153/64.4 last week. Again, the seated SSs were higher than the standing versions, probably because of needing to sit down on my trainer due to stability issues and just plain getting to higher cadences, and the lighter flywheel meaning I just don't have to push as hard to get going. A top of 161/72.6 was pleasing, though.
The 25s PGRS effort I wasn't entirely sure what to do, so I just did it as a 5,10,10 rampup and hit a top of 138. HCLR rampup was good, just went all-out in the last ten seconds and hit, apparently, 195 - I wasn't looking at the time, and it seems like potentially a spike though garmin and golden cheetah both agree. At any rate, it was at least 184 which is what I hit in the warmup, so nice to hit those levels again at the end.
Brief stats here.
24 July 2011
DISC Session #14 with ABOC
Well, an interestingly mixed session tonight. Two mechanical annoyances in the powerjumps - pulled a wheel (again!) in the first warmup, fixed it, and went back out and did it solo before doing a flying entry with Neil and Nic. Then after a tricky three-way-react-to-the-last-rider powerjump where I was in the middle (and finished last, though right on Nic's wheel, and hit about 50km/hr) I was leading out the second powerjump (need to work on watching/reacting, after all) when I pulled my foot out of the pedal - fortunately my automatic systems knew how to handle it because I don't think my pre-frontal cortex knew what had happened until I got down on to the duckboard, one leg flapping in the wind. Looking at the pedal/cleat afterwards, it really doesn't look that worn, but I'm going to put keos and straps on, see how they go. It's a shame, because I quite like the speedplays otherwise - at some point I'll probably fork out the $100-odd to rebuild them with track bodies.
Rest of the night was two MACs and a windout. No surprise I enjoy these more, because they involve going fast, and perhaps don't require as much work as my powerjumps! Though everything still needs work. The MACs I did on 99.7", and hit just over 60km/hr/130RPM for the first, and 59/125 for the second with only about 7 minutes rest between the two. On both I hit the roller a few times going around, and in the final hundred metres or so was actively avoiding the back of the bike - both times ending up around the blue line. Given that, quite happy with the numbers, though I'm hoping (wanting needing!) to go faster still.
Finished with a 500m windout from the blue line (no entry off the banking for this one) and again was sitting close to the roller though not to the extent of slowing me down - can't remember if I actually hit it again, though I think I did. 58km/hr at 142 (back to 86" for this one) is not bad, though I felt like I possibly cheated myself a little in effort. After that just doodled around a little trying to trackstand and then rolled as slowly as possible back to the racks. It didn't feel terribly elegant, but then, that's what practice is for!
Rest of the night was two MACs and a windout. No surprise I enjoy these more, because they involve going fast, and perhaps don't require as much work as my powerjumps! Though everything still needs work. The MACs I did on 99.7", and hit just over 60km/hr/130RPM for the first, and 59/125 for the second with only about 7 minutes rest between the two. On both I hit the roller a few times going around, and in the final hundred metres or so was actively avoiding the back of the bike - both times ending up around the blue line. Given that, quite happy with the numbers, though I'm hoping (wanting needing!) to go faster still.
Finished with a 500m windout from the blue line (no entry off the banking for this one) and again was sitting close to the roller though not to the extent of slowing me down - can't remember if I actually hit it again, though I think I did. 58km/hr at 142 (back to 86" for this one) is not bad, though I felt like I possibly cheated myself a little in effort. After that just doodled around a little trying to trackstand and then rolled as slowly as possible back to the racks. It didn't feel terribly elegant, but then, that's what practice is for!
23 July 2011
Bon Jovi
Given that I'm not even doing these in the right order, I don't know why I'm bothering. Still, is there anything more fun than trying to remember 80s hair metal? Though I hear that Bon Jovi are still going, less or more strong...
Anyway, nice session in the gym; it's all starting to feel like work now, which is more satisfying! The squats were mostly good, mostly sufficiently deep, though on the last work set I ended up doing 7 reps because the first two were crap - one barely even parallel, and one I lost my balance and ended up taking a step backwards. Otherwise they felt pretty good, and while 70kgs (that is, about 60% of my bodyweight!) is only just barely novice-level, at least it's getting up there, and 5kg/week progressions are no problem for now.
The press went up to 35kg, and that I can start to feel, too - it didn't just go up on its own like it did a fortnight ago! No particular problems though, and still just concentrating on form, trying to make sure to shrug the shoulders, catch it back on the delts, that sort of thing.
Deadlifts went up to 80kg, and are starting to feel heavy coming up. I think I've got the form pretty well right with that one, though it's easy to forget bits and pieces in the moment. Hell, it's hard enough to count to five at times!
Anyway, nice session in the gym; it's all starting to feel like work now, which is more satisfying! The squats were mostly good, mostly sufficiently deep, though on the last work set I ended up doing 7 reps because the first two were crap - one barely even parallel, and one I lost my balance and ended up taking a step backwards. Otherwise they felt pretty good, and while 70kgs (that is, about 60% of my bodyweight!) is only just barely novice-level, at least it's getting up there, and 5kg/week progressions are no problem for now.
The press went up to 35kg, and that I can start to feel, too - it didn't just go up on its own like it did a fortnight ago! No particular problems though, and still just concentrating on form, trying to make sure to shrug the shoulders, catch it back on the delts, that sort of thing.
Deadlifts went up to 80kg, and are starting to feel heavy coming up. I think I've got the form pretty well right with that one, though it's easy to forget bits and pieces in the moment. Hell, it's hard enough to count to five at times!
22 July 2011
Vaguely interesting...
So, how'd the repeat go then? Well, what can I say - it was vaguely interesting, but no surprises - yellow figures are today's, obviously:
6s HCLR - 201 ... 180
6sHCLR - 198 ... 183
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7 ... 146/65.2
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57 ... 139/60.9
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4 ... 152/63.3
8s PG+6 RS#2 – ?/? ... 153/64.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57 ... 146/57.6
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2 ... 151/59.4
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8 ... 118/66.9
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4 ... 130/72.2
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8 ... 136/53.6
35s HCLR r/up - -/- ... 172
See what I mean? About as expected, in the sense that the numbers from today were consistently higher, more so in the standing start versus the rolling start. But look at the BGSSs - the difference between the first and second effort today is much greater than the difference between the first efforts Tuesday and today. The main change I made was in the transition from pushing hard to start off the effort to pedalling as fast and as smoothly as possible - the first I really just kept stomping. Both times I sat down after about 6 seconds, because it was getting too unstable to stand - unlike the KKRM, which didn't move too much, mine moved nearly a foot forward during the standing starts. Clearly I'm unweighting the rear wheel too much (as evidenced in DISC sessions) but that's a tough one to fix. I'm trying though.
I was about as rooted today, but didn't feel sick - I'm thinking diet is more the key there, though the extra power output presumably required to get the larger flywheel on the KKRM going could have played some role. I've been 20-30g carb the last two days, and will be ~30 again today, cramming them in after the session in an attempt to aid recovery - weights tomorrow and then DISC on Sunday. Want to make sure I get maximum value out of those sessions!
6s HCLR - 201 ... 180
6sHCLR - 198 ... 183
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7 ... 146/65.2
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57 ... 139/60.9
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4 ... 152/63.3
8s PG+6 RS#2 – ?/? ... 153/64.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57 ... 146/57.6
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2 ... 151/59.4
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8 ... 118/66.9
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4 ... 130/72.2
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8 ... 136/53.6
35s HCLR r/up - -/- ... 172
See what I mean? About as expected, in the sense that the numbers from today were consistently higher, more so in the standing start versus the rolling start. But look at the BGSSs - the difference between the first and second effort today is much greater than the difference between the first efforts Tuesday and today. The main change I made was in the transition from pushing hard to start off the effort to pedalling as fast and as smoothly as possible - the first I really just kept stomping. Both times I sat down after about 6 seconds, because it was getting too unstable to stand - unlike the KKRM, which didn't move too much, mine moved nearly a foot forward during the standing starts. Clearly I'm unweighting the rear wheel too much (as evidenced in DISC sessions) but that's a tough one to fix. I'm trying though.
I was about as rooted today, but didn't feel sick - I'm thinking diet is more the key there, though the extra power output presumably required to get the larger flywheel on the KKRM going could have played some role. I've been 20-30g carb the last two days, and will be ~30 again today, cramming them in after the session in an attempt to aid recovery - weights tomorrow and then DISC on Sunday. Want to make sure I get maximum value out of those sessions!
20 July 2011
Seldom Bucket
Well, finally, after all of my bravado, a bucket (or was that toilet?) was required after tonight's spin. Or, rather, during. Twice! Was it that hard? Was it the effect of being in a room with lots of other panting sweaty people? Was it the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine? Or, perhaps, was it the large bowl of ice cream I'd had an hour and a half earlier as a final hurrah to carbs and which was decidedly less pleasant on the way back up? It's hard to say, though Thursday's repeat back at home should give an indication.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+6 RS (60, seated):3
:22 2 x 12s PG RS (80, seated):4
:30 2 x 8s BGSS (L,R):3
:36 35s PG RS R/up, 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
:44 35s HCLR r/up 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
A little housekeeping first - we didn't quite keep to those times precisely. Towards the end of the first SS my bike fell off the trainer because the plastic end cap of my skewer broke off! When that happened, the speed sensor must have been knocked slightly because my speed readings from that point were erratic, and have been calculated from gear/cadence - the cadence reading was fine, despite the odd random spike. I was a minute late getting back from the toilet for the first BGSS, and so did it on my own and in my frazzled state only did 6 seconds, not 8. And I didn't make it for the final HCLR rampup, just finishing with a 10s HCLR instead. Finally, the difference in the trainers was notable, but perhaps not quite as much as I expected. Definitely harder to get going, definitely easier to keep going. I'll reserve further judgement until I do the session again on Thursday.
So all that said, how was it? Well, I was pretty happy really. There were extraneous issues as listed above, and I was slightly nervy getting out of the saddle for the first SS because I wasn't sure how the KKRM would behave. Still, I ended up with satisfactory numbers - the officially recorded value for the first HCLR was 201, but I saw 208 briefly and held above 200 for the last 2-3 seconds of the effort, so happy to have broken that barrier - though I suspect it's more the difference in trainers than a sudden increase in my ability over 1 week!
Numbers:
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8
Note that I didn't even manage 135RPM in the PG rampup! I was well rooted by then. I managed about 30 seconds at a reasonable cadence, and how much of the last 5 seconds you count probably depends upon how generous you're feeling! But cadence rather plummeted. I didn't quite do the second BGSS properly either - I was rolling with 2 seconds to go, suddenly remembered, slammed on the rear brake, tried to get my foot position sorted, and just went at the mark. I've no idea if I was fully stopped or which leg I ended up starting on, but I think it was my left again. Ah well.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+12 SS:3
:16 2 x 8s PG+6 RS (60, seated):3
:22 2 x 12s PG RS (80, seated):4
:30 2 x 8s BGSS (L,R):3
:36 35s PG RS R/up, 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
:44 35s HCLR r/up 10:100, 10:135, 15:max
A little housekeeping first - we didn't quite keep to those times precisely. Towards the end of the first SS my bike fell off the trainer because the plastic end cap of my skewer broke off! When that happened, the speed sensor must have been knocked slightly because my speed readings from that point were erratic, and have been calculated from gear/cadence - the cadence reading was fine, despite the odd random spike. I was a minute late getting back from the toilet for the first BGSS, and so did it on my own and in my frazzled state only did 6 seconds, not 8. And I didn't make it for the final HCLR rampup, just finishing with a 10s HCLR instead. Finally, the difference in the trainers was notable, but perhaps not quite as much as I expected. Definitely harder to get going, definitely easier to keep going. I'll reserve further judgement until I do the session again on Thursday.
So all that said, how was it? Well, I was pretty happy really. There were extraneous issues as listed above, and I was slightly nervy getting out of the saddle for the first SS because I wasn't sure how the KKRM would behave. Still, I ended up with satisfactory numbers - the officially recorded value for the first HCLR was 201, but I saw 208 briefly and held above 200 for the last 2-3 seconds of the effort, so happy to have broken that barrier - though I suspect it's more the difference in trainers than a sudden increase in my ability over 1 week!
Numbers:
7s PG+12 SS#1 – 134/59.7
7s PG+12 SS#2 – 128/57
8s PG+6 RS#1 – 147/61.4
12s PG RS#1 – 145/57
12s PG RS#2 – 143/56.2
8s BGSS (L) - 111/61.8
8s BGSS (R) – 112/62.4
35s PG RS R/up – 132/51.8
Note that I didn't even manage 135RPM in the PG rampup! I was well rooted by then. I managed about 30 seconds at a reasonable cadence, and how much of the last 5 seconds you count probably depends upon how generous you're feeling! But cadence rather plummeted. I didn't quite do the second BGSS properly either - I was rolling with 2 seconds to go, suddenly remembered, slammed on the rear brake, tried to get my foot position sorted, and just went at the mark. I've no idea if I was fully stopped or which leg I ended up starting on, but I think it was my left again. Ah well.
18 July 2011
Protein
I've been wondering about the economics of moving to a high-protein, high-fat, low-carb lifestyle recently. One of the resons that a higher carbohydrate diet is popular, aside from a love of sugar, is that on a per-kilojoule basis, it's relatively cheap. So a high-protein diet is going to be expensive, right?
Well, it turns out that it depends upon how you go about it. Sure, if you're going to be eating nothing but organic steak, then it's not going to be cheap - at at least $15/100g protein, for someone like me aiming perhaps for 200 (or more) grams of protein per day, that's insane. $200/week just on meat for one person? I think not. I thought it would be useful therefore to actually do some calculations to find out just how much eating 200g of protein per day might cost, considered in isolation. I haven't considered all sources by any means, but here's a bit of a summary - the columns are pretty self-explanatory, but $/day refers to the cost to supply 200g of protein per day, and Kg/day refers to how much would need to be consumed per day if that item were the only source of protein. Milk, obviously, is measured in litres, not Kg:
| Protein/100g | $/100g | Total weight/100g Protein | $/100g Protein | $/day | Kg/day | |
| Foodstuff | ||||||
| Max's Super Whey 8kg + FREE 1kg Whey Protein valued at $32.95 | 80 | 2.33 | 125.00 | 2.91 | 5.83 | 0.25 |
| Amino Nutrition Mega Whey 6kg | 80 | 2.5 | 125.00 | 3.13 | 6.25 | 0.25 |
| Milk (Woolies) | 3.2 | 0.1 | 3125.00 | 3.13 | 6.25 | 6.25 |
| Mince Beef (cheap) | 19 | 0.6 | 526.32 | 3.16 | 6.32 | 1.05 |
| Top Nutrition Deluxe Whey 3kg | 80 | 2.93 | 125.00 | 3.66 | 7.33 | 0.25 |
| Cheese | 25.8 | 1 | 387.60 | 3.88 | 7.75 | 0.78 |
| Steak (cheap) | 20 | 0.8 | 500.00 | 4.00 | 8.00 | 1.00 |
| Top Nutrition 100% Hwpi + Wpc Premium 3kg | 85.5 | 3.43 | 116.96 | 4.01 | 8.02 | 0.23 |
| Tuna (tin) | 24 | 1 | 416.67 | 4.17 | 8.33 | 0.83 |
| Tofu (cheap) | 11 | 0.5 | 909.09 | 4.55 | 9.09 | 1.82 |
| Eggs | 12.2 | 0.6 | 819.67 | 4.92 | 9.84 | 1.64 |
| Redbak Complete Protein 3kg | 90 | 4.5 | 111.11 | 5.00 | 10.00 | 0.22 |
| Chicken (cheap) | 18 | 1 | 555.56 | 5.56 | 11.11 | 1.11 |
| Top Nutrition 100% Hwpi Ultimate Plus 3kg | 90 | 6.03 | 111.11 | 6.70 | 13.40 | 0.22 |
| Mince Beef (org) | 20 | 1.49 | 500.00 | 7.45 | 14.90 | 1.00 |
| Milk (Org) | 3.2 | 0.275 | 3125.00 | 8.59 | 17.19 | 6.25 |
| Roo Fillet | 22.9 | 1.98 | 436.68 | 8.65 | 17.29 | 0.87 |
| Chevaps | 15.5 | 1.375 | 645.16 | 8.87 | 17.74 | 1.29 |
| Tofu (org) | 11 | 1 | 909.09 | 9.09 | 18.18 | 1.82 |
| Chicken (free) | 18 | 1.7 | 555.56 | 9.44 | 18.89 | 1.11 |
| Chicken (org) | 18 | 2.49 | 555.56 | 13.83 | 27.67 | 1.11 |
| Steak (org) | 20 | 3 | 500.00 | 15.00 | 30.00 | 1.00 |
Interesting reading! Now, clearly one would certainly not be eating any single given source of protein, and the relative fat and carbohydrate levels in each source are relevant. Additionally, I've made a few generalisations and assumptions, but those are fairly easy to work out and allow for - cheddar cheese at $10/kg, for example. If you can get Home Brand for $7/kilo, suddenly it's right at the top. One of the reasons I did this, though, is that when it comes to meat, for ethical reasons I far prefer organic or free-range to Coles Grade 3 mince from who-knows where. And I don't want to drink Woolies white water.
What surprised me the most, however, was the relative cheapness of some of the 'supplementary' sources, the bodybuilder's mega ripped super oxy whey ultimate deluxe formulae of the chemical world. I imagined that much of this would be over-hyped and overpriced - and certainly many of them are (there are quite a number omitted from this summary!) Particularly if you buy it in 300g tubs from the supermarket, you'll find it cheaper to eat a kilo of steak every day. But buying 9kgs (in this case, online from city health) actually works out to be the cheapest of the lot - as considered so far. The equivalent of one week of organic steak will get ~40 days of the leading (that is, most economical!) whey formulation. And since, just like with steak, you wouldn't want to eat nothing but that, or it might be mixed with milk rather than water (also, obviously, an additional expense) you'd be getting more like 2-3 months out of each - possibly more, since I don't know what the maximum recommended daily 'dose' of such things might be.
There are many more relevant factors to take in to account - an adequate fat intake, a mix of vitamins, minerals etc. and just plain old palatability and interest. However, that's all for the conscience of the individual parishioner to determine!
16 July 2011
Europe in da haus?
Good golly I was creaky to start with today! Felt like I could barely get down to a 1/4 squat for my first warmup set. I took my camera along to video my form in the various exercises, which gave me a bit of feedback on how it looks compared to how it 'feels'.
One thing I've forgotten a bit the last couple of weeks, and which is going to start to get more important, is the hip drive part of the squat. I've been focussing more on getting the start right, and keeping the knees in the right position; particularly important since that's what I've had trouble with from the start and I know what happens when your knee is twisted and trying to drive up - don't want to go there again! My 'feel' of that seems pretty good though, so even though I still need to work on it I'm at least aware of it. Hip drive, on the other hand, I haven't been as aware of which means that I can't feel that as well.
So squats and bench are both feeling heavy, if not quite yet at the point where I can genuinely feel stronger after each gym session. My work sets, if you like, are now at the point that I probably would have been able to do them as a 1RM effort in my first session. Power cleans, on the other hand, I'm still not putting much effort in to, as it were. After 3x4 I'm feeling tired, but I can easily get the weight up without proper form - though obviously that's what I'm focussing on! Mostly today that was okay, if not consistent. Part of the problem, in some ways, is that I don't even really need to jump to get it up to my shoulders - which means that it feels weirdly unnecessary to do so. But very shortly it will be necessary, which is why we start low and steadily progress!
Anyway, numbers:
Squat 3 x 5 x 65kg
Bench 3 x 5 x 60kg
Power Clean 3 x 4 x 45kg
And then a set of 5 jumping chinups for the fun of it.
One thing I've forgotten a bit the last couple of weeks, and which is going to start to get more important, is the hip drive part of the squat. I've been focussing more on getting the start right, and keeping the knees in the right position; particularly important since that's what I've had trouble with from the start and I know what happens when your knee is twisted and trying to drive up - don't want to go there again! My 'feel' of that seems pretty good though, so even though I still need to work on it I'm at least aware of it. Hip drive, on the other hand, I haven't been as aware of which means that I can't feel that as well.
So squats and bench are both feeling heavy, if not quite yet at the point where I can genuinely feel stronger after each gym session. My work sets, if you like, are now at the point that I probably would have been able to do them as a 1RM effort in my first session. Power cleans, on the other hand, I'm still not putting much effort in to, as it were. After 3x4 I'm feeling tired, but I can easily get the weight up without proper form - though obviously that's what I'm focussing on! Mostly today that was okay, if not consistent. Part of the problem, in some ways, is that I don't even really need to jump to get it up to my shoulders - which means that it feels weirdly unnecessary to do so. But very shortly it will be necessary, which is why we start low and steadily progress!
Anyway, numbers:
Squat 3 x 5 x 65kg
Bench 3 x 5 x 60kg
Power Clean 3 x 4 x 45kg
And then a set of 5 jumping chinups for the fun of it.
14 July 2011
Bucket? Where's that bucket?!
Well, not quite, but gods, it was much harder today. Same program, but nothing like the same experience. HCLRs were 175/184, so okay, but almost everything else was 5-10RPM lower than Tuesday. The one exception was the second PG+8 RS, and that only because on Tuesday I pulled my foot out of the pedal!
It's interesting to postulate why - was it recovery, was it the lack of food (I trained at 17:30 or so and hadn't eaten since 11ish,) the lack of preparation since I only decided to do it rather than race tomorrow night at the last minute, the lack of a cycling jersey, or the addition of my HRM which I finally found and so distracted me? The full moon? Who knows. I know that I'm tired!
Brief stats here.
It's interesting to postulate why - was it recovery, was it the lack of food (I trained at 17:30 or so and hadn't eaten since 11ish,) the lack of preparation since I only decided to do it rather than race tomorrow night at the last minute, the lack of a cycling jersey, or the addition of my HRM which I finally found and so distracted me? The full moon? Who knows. I know that I'm tired!
Brief stats here.
12 July 2011
Bucket? Who needs a bucket?
This was supposed to be a bucket session, but it felt okay to me - I could even walk afterwards! Well, shortlyish afterwards, anyway. Perhaps I didn't go hard enough...
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+8" SS L,R:3
:16 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (40):3
:25 20s RG SS (race leg)
:32 20s RG RS (80) (10s reverse splits)
:39 30s PG+4" RS (10s reverse splits)
:45 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10, 10, 15) 100, 130, 150+
HCLRs were a bit better - 184 and 180 (Garmin reckons 201, but I'm quite sure that's not right!) The PG standing and rolling starts were good - best of 164 for the right-leg standing start, and 156/158 otherwise - last one was only 150 because my left foot pulled out of the pedal after about 5 seconds - not something I want to happen on a track bike! I'll have a good look at it before Friday, might just need adjusting.
The RG (53x14 versus 53x15) SS felt good - again, pulled out of the pedal after a few seconds, but slotted back in and kept going up to 25s to compensate - hit a high of 153 and slowly decayed, but still above 130RPM by the end of the 25 seconds, so happy with that. The 20s RS reverse split I had to guess at an effort level, and so worked up to between 115 and 120 for the first 10s, then above 130 for the second 10s. I managed that okay, but felt that I probably could have aimed a bit higher - perhaps I should try for ~125 and then ~135 for Thursday's session.
The 30s PG reverse split thingie I decided to try to continually increase effort, rather than trying to hold a level - so I went for 100 increasing to 110ish, then increasing to 120ish, then basically sprinting as hard as possible to as high as possible for the last 10s - as opposed to jumping as hard as possible and then holding. That saw me hit 146, which I'm pretty happy with. Jumping and holding is probably more race relevant, but continually pushing higher to muscle collapse is probably better training. But I still didn't need a bucket!
HCLR rampup again for the third segment I just tried to sprint as hard as possible, and got up to 174 and was possibly slightly smoother - it's hard to tell. With the lack of resistance, around 130 is almost the hardest point, because I end up bouncing around a bit if I don't make a big effort not to. After that, I probably bounce around just as much, but I'm working too hard to notice!
Overall a good session. Some good numbers (including 3 of 70km/hr+) and felt good even in the longer efforts - of course, none of them were 40s, which helps! Brief stats here.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 7s PG+8" SS L,R:3
:16 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (40):3
:25 20s RG SS (race leg)
:32 20s RG RS (80) (10s reverse splits)
:39 30s PG+4" RS (10s reverse splits)
:45 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10, 10, 15) 100, 130, 150+
HCLRs were a bit better - 184 and 180 (Garmin reckons 201, but I'm quite sure that's not right!) The PG standing and rolling starts were good - best of 164 for the right-leg standing start, and 156/158 otherwise - last one was only 150 because my left foot pulled out of the pedal after about 5 seconds - not something I want to happen on a track bike! I'll have a good look at it before Friday, might just need adjusting.
The RG (53x14 versus 53x15) SS felt good - again, pulled out of the pedal after a few seconds, but slotted back in and kept going up to 25s to compensate - hit a high of 153 and slowly decayed, but still above 130RPM by the end of the 25 seconds, so happy with that. The 20s RS reverse split I had to guess at an effort level, and so worked up to between 115 and 120 for the first 10s, then above 130 for the second 10s. I managed that okay, but felt that I probably could have aimed a bit higher - perhaps I should try for ~125 and then ~135 for Thursday's session.
The 30s PG reverse split thingie I decided to try to continually increase effort, rather than trying to hold a level - so I went for 100 increasing to 110ish, then increasing to 120ish, then basically sprinting as hard as possible to as high as possible for the last 10s - as opposed to jumping as hard as possible and then holding. That saw me hit 146, which I'm pretty happy with. Jumping and holding is probably more race relevant, but continually pushing higher to muscle collapse is probably better training. But I still didn't need a bucket!
HCLR rampup again for the third segment I just tried to sprint as hard as possible, and got up to 174 and was possibly slightly smoother - it's hard to tell. With the lack of resistance, around 130 is almost the hardest point, because I end up bouncing around a bit if I don't make a big effort not to. After that, I probably bounce around just as much, but I'm working too hard to notice!
Overall a good session. Some good numbers (including 3 of 70km/hr+) and felt good even in the longer efforts - of course, none of them were 40s, which helps! Brief stats here.
10 July 2011
No Electronica!
That's right, I was completely naked for tonight's ABOC DISC session - I left my Garmin at home. As such, I am entirely confused about how I went this evening and know nothing about anything.
Well, perhaps not quite. New tyres tonight, so I was a bit concerned about the potential for slipping, but the sanding and vinegaring I did seemed to work and I had no problems on that score. I did still have slipping under acceleration but that's probably positional - though I hope that these tyres will help a bit. I was trying to focus on keeping my arms straight (I've been tending to hunch over the front with bent arms, especially in the powerjumps) but I'm not sure if it helped much or not! My main focus for the moment is transferring increased strength to the track, and slipping (sometimes for a good 50 metres) under acceleration isn't helping that.
Otherwise I was fairly happy with my efforts, the jumps did feel a bit stronger, and I was absolutely rooted after the 2 x 250m MACs, which is the way it should be. Interestingly I recovered better from the final 375m MAC than the 250s, which might have to do with the effort, or simply that there was just one of them. Hard to say. I also had a bit of a play on some rollers, which will take a bit of getting used to!
Well, perhaps not quite. New tyres tonight, so I was a bit concerned about the potential for slipping, but the sanding and vinegaring I did seemed to work and I had no problems on that score. I did still have slipping under acceleration but that's probably positional - though I hope that these tyres will help a bit. I was trying to focus on keeping my arms straight (I've been tending to hunch over the front with bent arms, especially in the powerjumps) but I'm not sure if it helped much or not! My main focus for the moment is transferring increased strength to the track, and slipping (sometimes for a good 50 metres) under acceleration isn't helping that.
Otherwise I was fairly happy with my efforts, the jumps did feel a bit stronger, and I was absolutely rooted after the 2 x 250m MACs, which is the way it should be. Interestingly I recovered better from the final 375m MAC than the 250s, which might have to do with the effort, or simply that there was just one of them. Hard to say. I also had a bit of a play on some rollers, which will take a bit of getting used to!
09 July 2011
Erm... Poison?
I can see that if I'm to continue with this 'heavy metal' conceit then I'm going to have to get a bit more fine-grained. Already I don't really think that Poison were heavier than Guns n' Roses, but can't think of another sufficiently similar band. Perhaps the last one should have been Bon Jovi, then this one could be 'Europe', and then GnR... anyway!
Started off the session today feeling rather stiff, and my first warmup set of squats was a bit dubious. After that though, I felt my form was mostly pretty good, with just one bad wobble on the 4th rep of my third work set, popping up on to my toes. Controlled it okay though, and got to the end of the set without problems. The weight is starting to feel actually heavy, and I'm starting to have to put in effort to get it moving back upwards again. So, concentrate on my form and keep steadily increasing the weight...
Otherwise, the press went up to 30kg, no problems there, I don't feel I need to actually push it up yet, it just goes up! Deadlift I went up to 70kg and it's at the point where the weight is noticeable, but still easy. I suspect that will change in the next session or two though!
I've just done a spreadsheet looking at my projected gains assuming a linear progression of 5kg increases per session for each lift (which, if not precisely valid, is interestingly valid enough to demonstrate the different progression in each lift and where I might be still getting stronger in any given aspect versus plateauing in another) to give me an indication of where I might be come the end of the year, and to measure what actually happens. According to that spreadsheet, come the end of the year (assuming one session per week) I should be doing the following for the relevant work sets:
Squat: 185kg
Press: 90kg
Bench: 120kg
Deadlift: 130kg
Power Clean: 105kg
I don't really anticipate any of these will be accurate, and they don't take in to account relative physiological limits at all (except in terms of their starting points) but... will be interesting, anyway. And I'll still not be at twice my body weight for the squat unless I lose about 20kg!
Started off the session today feeling rather stiff, and my first warmup set of squats was a bit dubious. After that though, I felt my form was mostly pretty good, with just one bad wobble on the 4th rep of my third work set, popping up on to my toes. Controlled it okay though, and got to the end of the set without problems. The weight is starting to feel actually heavy, and I'm starting to have to put in effort to get it moving back upwards again. So, concentrate on my form and keep steadily increasing the weight...
Otherwise, the press went up to 30kg, no problems there, I don't feel I need to actually push it up yet, it just goes up! Deadlift I went up to 70kg and it's at the point where the weight is noticeable, but still easy. I suspect that will change in the next session or two though!
I've just done a spreadsheet looking at my projected gains assuming a linear progression of 5kg increases per session for each lift (which, if not precisely valid, is interestingly valid enough to demonstrate the different progression in each lift and where I might be still getting stronger in any given aspect versus plateauing in another) to give me an indication of where I might be come the end of the year, and to measure what actually happens. According to that spreadsheet, come the end of the year (assuming one session per week) I should be doing the following for the relevant work sets:
Squat: 185kg
Press: 90kg
Bench: 120kg
Deadlift: 130kg
Power Clean: 105kg
I don't really anticipate any of these will be accurate, and they don't take in to account relative physiological limits at all (except in terms of their starting points) but... will be interesting, anyway. And I'll still not be at twice my body weight for the squat unless I lose about 20kg!
08 July 2011
Solitary spin
Just the one this week - I almost managed to make a Tuesday or Wednesday session work so that I could fit both in, but I had a visiting sister who didn't quite fit in with my schedule. I managed to bundle her and two kids off for a shopping trip to at least get the one session in on Thursday. And, writing this on Friday, I'm tempted to do another one, so much fun did I have! And no, that's actually not sarcastic...
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (60rpm):3
:16 2 x 7s PG+8" RS (50rpm) (seated):3
:22 2 x 6s PG+8" SS:3
:28 2 x 7s PG+8" SS (seated):3
:34 1 x 40s PG RS R/up (10:90, 15:125, 15:max)
:40 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10:100, 10:130, 15:150+)
HCLRs were disappointing, 181 and 175, and felt rather uncoordinated doing them. Perhaps due to so long in between spin sessions? The PG+8 efforts were all actually PG+11 efforts (what's 3 inches between friends? As the bishop said to the choirgirl. Boom tish.) and felt quite solid - except for the second RS(60RPM) which I got out of the saddle for. And dragged the trainer about 15cm along the floor! Not surprisingly I only got up to 133RPM on that one...
For the standing starts I was really working on the countdown, getting my breathing set and synchronised, treating it as a genuine gate start. The numbers were better than the rolling starts (do I have better strength than power? Better low- than mid-range torque? Or did the extra focus of the standing starts versus rolling make the difference? Dunno!) in the mid-150s, but on the last one I was determined to break 160 and I managed it - 163RPM in 7 seconds in 53x15, ~92". Happy with that. As a demonstration of how comparable that is to actual track performance, I had a top speed of 71.6km/hr and covered about 150m in that 7 seconds. In reality I think I'd be lucky to get to 40km/hr and the 1/4 lap!
The PG rampup was okay - max of only 133, but again I made the 40 seconds. Okay, I may have started to shut down at 39 seconds. I'll be sure to do one more second of work next time. Actually no, scratch that, 41 seconds is just too long! HCLR rampup again I felt uncoordinated, but at least this time I had an excuse, and a top of 161 at the end of that session isn't too bad.
Brief stats here.
:00 E1
:05 2 x 6s HCLR:1
:10 2 x 6s PG+8" RS (60rpm):3
:16 2 x 7s PG+8" RS (50rpm) (seated):3
:22 2 x 6s PG+8" SS:3
:28 2 x 7s PG+8" SS (seated):3
:34 1 x 40s PG RS R/up (10:90, 15:125, 15:max)
:40 1 x 35s HCLR R/up (10:100, 10:130, 15:150+)
HCLRs were disappointing, 181 and 175, and felt rather uncoordinated doing them. Perhaps due to so long in between spin sessions? The PG+8 efforts were all actually PG+11 efforts (what's 3 inches between friends? As the bishop said to the choirgirl. Boom tish.) and felt quite solid - except for the second RS(60RPM) which I got out of the saddle for. And dragged the trainer about 15cm along the floor! Not surprisingly I only got up to 133RPM on that one...
For the standing starts I was really working on the countdown, getting my breathing set and synchronised, treating it as a genuine gate start. The numbers were better than the rolling starts (do I have better strength than power? Better low- than mid-range torque? Or did the extra focus of the standing starts versus rolling make the difference? Dunno!) in the mid-150s, but on the last one I was determined to break 160 and I managed it - 163RPM in 7 seconds in 53x15, ~92". Happy with that. As a demonstration of how comparable that is to actual track performance, I had a top speed of 71.6km/hr and covered about 150m in that 7 seconds. In reality I think I'd be lucky to get to 40km/hr and the 1/4 lap!
The PG rampup was okay - max of only 133, but again I made the 40 seconds. Okay, I may have started to shut down at 39 seconds. I'll be sure to do one more second of work next time. Actually no, scratch that, 41 seconds is just too long! HCLR rampup again I felt uncoordinated, but at least this time I had an excuse, and a top of 161 at the end of that session isn't too bad.
Brief stats here.
03 July 2011
DISC Session #11 with ABOC
Powerjumps, powerjumps, and then some powerjumps. Just for variety! 2x 1/2-lap on 86" from ~30, then 2x 1/2-lap on 93" from ~30, then instead of doing Flying 100s the 4 of us (only 4!) decided to do... race training, essentially. Work up to 40ish, then rider on the front does a flying lap, rider behind sits on the wheel and tries to time the sprint to the line.
I don't have anything much interesting to say, and the stats don't provide anything very interesting either. Top speed/cadence came in the warmup! For powerjumps the main interest is in the jump, the acceleration, and I don't have a useful way yet of analysing that. I tried to try hard, but I still need to work harder at my jump - and I need to get my new tyres on to, hopefully, help with slipping. I also need to work on my form - one of the sprints I felt like I was really crouching down over the front end rather than standing up a bit more, and so probably robbing myself of a lot of power.
But that's about all. I need to find some better free software for the making of the analyses. Because, clearly, I don't spend enough time on analysis!
I don't have anything much interesting to say, and the stats don't provide anything very interesting either. Top speed/cadence came in the warmup! For powerjumps the main interest is in the jump, the acceleration, and I don't have a useful way yet of analysing that. I tried to try hard, but I still need to work harder at my jump - and I need to get my new tyres on to, hopefully, help with slipping. I also need to work on my form - one of the sprints I felt like I was really crouching down over the front end rather than standing up a bit more, and so probably robbing myself of a lot of power.
But that's about all. I need to find some better free software for the making of the analyses. Because, clearly, I don't spend enough time on analysis!
02 July 2011
Guns 'n Roses
Because, well, I'm just about getting up to hair metal in the heaviness stakes. Today overall felt quite good - the weight is getting on there, to the point now where I actually needed to work a little in the work sets - as well as concentrate on developing form. My squat felt more stable, mostly, though there were still a couple of reps where my balance was wrong. And I'm starting to be able to feel the depth more; mostly in retrospect, but it's developing in the moment as well.
I did power cleans for the first time today - started off with hang pulls to get the general idea of jumping up with the bar, shrugging the shoulders and racking the bar. Then the weight went up to 40kg and I did a full set of 4 at that weight - once I didn't really jump, once I caught the bar on my hands rather than properly on the... what're they called? Delts? Shoulders, anyway. The last two felt quite good though, which for what is quite a complicated lift is pleasing. Which isn't to say that I've got it down pat, but it's a good beginning.
I also did some chin-ups. Well, when I say chin-ups, I mean jumping up and trying to let myself down as slowly as possible to a hang position before putting my feet back on the ground. I suspect it'll take a while before I can manage to lift my bodyweight!
Work Sets
Squats: 3x5x55kg
Bench Press: 3x5x55kg
Power Cleans: 1x4x40kg
Chinups: 2x5x115kg (jumping)
I did power cleans for the first time today - started off with hang pulls to get the general idea of jumping up with the bar, shrugging the shoulders and racking the bar. Then the weight went up to 40kg and I did a full set of 4 at that weight - once I didn't really jump, once I caught the bar on my hands rather than properly on the... what're they called? Delts? Shoulders, anyway. The last two felt quite good though, which for what is quite a complicated lift is pleasing. Which isn't to say that I've got it down pat, but it's a good beginning.
I also did some chin-ups. Well, when I say chin-ups, I mean jumping up and trying to let myself down as slowly as possible to a hang position before putting my feet back on the ground. I suspect it'll take a while before I can manage to lift my bodyweight!
Work Sets
Squats: 3x5x55kg
Bench Press: 3x5x55kg
Power Cleans: 1x4x40kg
Chinups: 2x5x115kg (jumping)
01 July 2011
Second verse, same as the first...
Same spin program today, and it felt better. Actually, I noticed after the last one that I did actually feel fresher, livelier - once I'd recovered. Today, I felt it almost as soon as I came off the bike! Quite odd. The session itself felt better, though statistically there wasn't much in it really.
The main difference is that I made it all the way through the 40-sec effort, and felt okay. my max cadence was lower, but at 138 it wasn't too disgraceful. Otherwise all of the RS efforts were a few RPM higher than last time, and more consistent - results of 160/160 rather than 159/154. Not too much more to report otherwise, but subjectively, I was much happier with today's spin.
Brief stats here.
The main difference is that I made it all the way through the 40-sec effort, and felt okay. my max cadence was lower, but at 138 it wasn't too disgraceful. Otherwise all of the RS efforts were a few RPM higher than last time, and more consistent - results of 160/160 rather than 159/154. Not too much more to report otherwise, but subjectively, I was much happier with today's spin.
Brief stats here.
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