It pretty much sums up this week - time to put away the Christmas decorations and pack up the school bags. R1 goes to a new Primary (i.e. Elementary) School tomorrow (and so this year onwards we start weekdays at 6am), R2 goes back to the kindergarden and I go back to work right smack in the middle of the 2006 financial review.On the Intentional Discipleship side, I am keeping to my daily prayers, but still struggling to get the bible reading in everyday. I will return to serving at the Toddler's Class at church every 1st Sunday of the month, and will also be leading bible study in the Care Group a lot more often than last year. I'm excited because so far I seem to be keeping to my Intentional Discipleships resolutions for 2007. Praise God!
On the Triathlon Training front, I have started training again. In addition to swimming, cycling and running, I have also started doing some strength training for the first time in my life, and hence have a ton of questions for the experts here. So far, the following is what I am doing, and consistent to the Anatomical Adaptation (AA) Phase in the Triathlete's Training Bible (Joe Friel), I am doing 20-30 reps per set. Everyone I spoke to is telling me that this is WAY too many reps, but I am sticking with Joe on this one, as I am not looking to build mass but to build strength. Being lazy and averse to the risk of injury, I did not try to find out what is my 1RM (1 Rep Maximum) weight for the exercises. Instead I am picking weights that give me some burn in the muscles (and sore muscles the next day), but not so heavy that my arms and legs are shaking at the end of the work-out. Is that heavy enough? Or will I get better results by going heavier??
- Squats - I find doing this with a weight bar on my shoulders to be quite tough because I have to lift the weight bar over my head to get it on my shoulders to begin with! ;) So now I am thinking to just do this with dumb bells in both hands, what do you think?
- Bent Elbow Lat Pull down - I like these.
- Knee Extension
- Chest Press Or Push Ups - I actually find that plain old push ups are a better workout for the chest than the machine.
- Back Pull Down (replaces the seated row as my gym does not have that machine)
- Abdominal Crunches - Again, I find the plain old crunches to be a better workout than pulling on the machine.
I have started running again too, and yes, it was painful and slow. :) I am too embarassed to tell you how long I have stopped cycling, but when I pumped up 'em tyres yesterday for a ride, they were at 40psi! :D
Here's wishing you a BLESSED 2007! Train safe and God Speed!
5 comments:
Happy New Year!
As an endurance athlete you'll want to keep the wieght low but the reps high. Do sets of 2x20 or something along those lines with less wieght than you can lift, say, 2x12 times.
I grew up lifting weights, but I was always going for bulk. I agree with the lower weight and higher rep. No need to bulk up.
I am making it a resolution to read the entire Bible this year. I am going to look for a daily schedule online to help me with the process. I read a lot last year, but after about half the Old Testament I moved to the New Testament and only read about half of that and then I faded away completely. This year I will do better.
God Bless!
I'm trying to be more disciplined about my weight training as well, I was told lower weight, high reps, focus on form. Next day should feel mild soreness.
Happy New Year!
I have always done squats with dumbells, it helps me to balance better and it forces me to pay attention to my form. Good luck in your training, I look forward to hearing how you progress.
God bless!
What about your biceps, shoulders, and hamstrings? You're working all of them a little, but not really targeting them. Just throwing my two cents out there. :)
By the way, I thought you might be interested in a friend of mine's blog. It's just getting started, but he's big on "Intentional Discipleship". You might be interested in some of his links, anyway. http://WOWOutreach.blogspot.com
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