My friend Mark has nearly finished his challenge of doing 50 half marathons in 60 days on the Concept 2 indoor rower. That adds up to over 600 miles! He is doing it to raise money for a local 9 year old girl who fell from a climbing frame, and is now paralysed for life. Well, yesterday, he completed his 44th row, so he only has 6 more to do. His final one is due a week tomorrow (Tuesday 30th). If you havent watched them already, please watch the following 2 videos so you know what he is doing and why. Then please follow this link (click here) and donate any money you can to a very wonderful cause…
Video: Sir Chris Hoy on the squat.
The squat (as shown by my lovely stick man figure here) is a great example of a Keystone Ability (click here for more info). But if you don’t believe me, listen to what an actual Knight of the Realm has to say on the matter…
Limiting Factors and Weakest Links. What’s holding you back?
Weakest Link
Our bodies are very sophisticated, complex things. So complex that usually, many different things have to happen for an end result to be produced. I have talked before about walking (click here). It is an everyday task, but in spite of this it needs:
The Intensity/Duration Curve – or “How come I walk for hours every day, but still get knackered climbing the stairs?”
Do you recognise the following:
“I think I’m reasonably fit. I do a lot of walking (dozens of miles a every week), but I get so out of breath when I climb the stairs/run for a bus/play with the kids. What is wrong with me?”
The Intensity/Duration Curve
I recognise it. Every single week someone comes up to me and asks me some version of this question, so here is the answer.
It is all to do with the Intensity/Duration Curve. First of all, here are a couple of definitions:
Nettle Warrior 2011 – pics from the The Safest Most Dangerous Event In The World
Me and Jane playing at Nettle Warrior 2011. We are signing up for next year, and we are gonna race it!
Nettle Warrior 2011 – done and dusted!
Did the Nettle Warrior challenge today! Massive thanks to Jane for tellng me about it, getting me round and esspecially for getting me there and back! I’m off to bed to clean all the many grazes I now have and have nightmares about bloody electric fences!
Sheffield Man Of Steel
http://sheffieldmanofsteel.co.uk/ Only a couple of weeks until I have a go at the Nettle Warrior challenge! So as a practice run I’m having a go at the Sheffield Man Of Steel tomorrow! Wish me luck!
New physical activity guidelines for adults in the UK.
Strength Training with Pressups
“New and important guidelines” have been released today about recommended physical activity levels for people in the UK. Click here to read them and see how you compare. Here are just a couple of my thoughts…
The Million Metre Row Challenge
The night before the start of 50 half marathons on the Concept 2 indoor rower…
What happens to your training while on holiday?
Holiday
My friend is going on holiday to Italy for 3 weeks, so she was wondering how will she cope without her regular training 3 times a week? Holidays can be difficult when it comes to training. So off the top of my head, here are some of the main problems and how we might get over them…
The USA’s new “My Plate” food guide.
My Plate from the USDA
The USDA revamped its guide on what to eat the other day. It used to be a funny pyramid with lots of stripes on. I was never very keen on it, because it wasn’t very clear to me. But I think I like this new one. It is clear and simple. And importantly, it is very clear that half of what you eat should be made up of fruit and veggies.
One man, one machine, one million metres!
Indoor rowing
Half a marathon is 21.1 km, or 21,097 metres long. That is a long way. It takes my friend Mark about 1 hour 20 minutes to row it on the indoor rowers here at work. The British record for his division is 1 hour 13 minutes. So Mark is going at a very good pace, and he is working his body hard! Almost everyone I tell is very impressed by this…then I tell them that he is going to do 50 of these half marathons over the course of 60 days…then everyone is impressed! Other ways of saying 50 half marathons include:
Recommended Reading: Supplements: Who needs them? A special report.
Supplements
Supplements. Do you take them? Do you know what they are? Are they worth the money we spend on them and are they even actually safe for us? If you don’t know the answer to any of these, click here to find out. This NHS report gives you unbiased information from actual science studies (not from an advertising exec.) on:
Training movements, not muscles.
Your average gym monkey
I work in a gym, but I don’t think I am your average gym monkey (at least I hope I’m not). I am not interested in isolating muscles and “maximising the burn”. Instead, because of my background in Karate, I am more interested in being able to move in strong, powerful, fast and well coordinated ways.
Fake it til you make it.
Fake it til you make it
Fake it ’til you make it is a phrase that can help with self confidence, self belief and achieving a target/goal.
Have you ever been given a challenge and immediately thought
“I could never do that! It’s impossible! I’m not nearly good enough!”.
The next thing you know, you have:
Movement analysis of Karate kicks.
Video analysis of various kicks from the other day. This video is at quarter speed and we are using it to check the limbs take the best path to their target, and that there is no “telegraphing” of the move… If you think you may benefit from movement analysis such as this, contact me today, … Read more
Movement analysis of golf swings.
Getting your technique right is very important no matter what you do. In the video below, we are checking the technique of a golf swing. It is at 1 tenth speed, and the path of the club head is followed, making it easier to see what is happening and if there are any inefficiencies in the move…
Sprints versus marathons for heart health
Flat-out Sprinting
I read this story (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8429518/Sprints-better-than-marathon-for-heart-health.html) when it came out last month. It shows how multiple, maximal effort sprints had similar effects on health compared to long duration exercise. But after chatting with some people in the gym, I have a couple of problems with the practical implications of it…
Waist fat ‘increases heart risk’
Abdominal fat Click here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13222192) for the news story. It says how where you carry your bodyfat can have a big impact on your health and risks of disease. It talks about the waist/hip ratio. Or how much fat you are carrying around your belly. This is a very easy measurement to take. In fact, you can … Read more
Low Back Pain Recovery Slow; And Worse For Those On Compensation
Back Pain
Last year, I ranted about how a guy I knew was being prevented to exercise and rehabilitate his injuries because his solicitor said it would jeopardise his compensation claim (click here for details). Well, today I was doing some research on back pain and stumbled on the following webpage (click here). It talks about recovery times for people with low back pain, and how various factors affected these recovery times. Then I read the following sentence: