The Bigger They Are....

Just been on a run with my older brother. It was only 3.5 miles from start to end but my god what an ordeal!! He sat quite a moderate pace for me at the start but eben still my lack of physical activity in recent times shone through yet again. I managed the first mile or so at this pace but that was it. After the first mile my calves were burning red hot and a long down hill section adjitated my ankle. From then on I could only manage a few hundred yards before I had to walk the pain in my calves off. My cardio was not too bad as I never really felt like I was gasping for air. It was just my lack of muscular endurance that stopped me from reaching this point.

I got my heart rate to what felt like 160BPM which I know I can handle for over 20mins as I do this on the exercise bike at work regularly. But this that is on a bike so the pounding on the legs doesnt come into it. From this I have learned that a need to address my running technique as I appear to be making things harder for myself than needs be. The first thing my brother picked up on (and always has) is that I take really small strides for a man of my size. So what I need to do is extend my stride but not too far as to feel unatural. This will take some trial and error Im sure but it will pay dividens in the long run. The second point is that my body positioning when running down hill in particular is putting more and more pressure on joints as I am trying to stay bolt upright instead of relaxing and leaning into the hill. I know I do this because even on a flat section I can tell that I am rigid and feel unrelaxed, like everything is very serious. It also tires my shoulders and biceps out from holding a stoic pose when running other than my legs. I just need to loosen up and I know it will become easier. The thrid and final point is that I sound like a herd of elephants stomping through as I run. This will be combination of an uneasy running technique and the extra weight gain. Obviously I can blame some of the pain in my calves on the extra weight on my joints from rapid weight gain and inactivity.

The run has only spurred my on to get better at running and obviously fitter. I am feeling first hand the difficulties that are coupled with being over weight and running. I now see that there is no need to have a little extra weight as stored energy. Not in this day and age when food is so easily available wherever you go. So it is my goal just to drop as much fat as I can and not really focus on the total weight Im at. This is because when I do gain muscle it would obviously bring up my total weight. To help quantify this I will do my best to make monthly use of a Bio-Electrical Impedance machine to got my total body weight but more importantly my body fat %. When I was at my peak of fitness, rather amazingly just before I injured my ankle, I was at 8% body fat. Which may seem a lot but when you consider that most other males who had the % analysed when I had mine done were all PT's, sportsmen and students alike they were getting around 15% and they were in great shape.

I can also feel it in my heart (lungs, legs, head and arms!!) that my recovery time which was once my main physical advantage over most people has not hit rock bottom. I used to be able to do 5mins rolling at BJJ and be fine to go again for another 4 or 5 rounds with only 1min in between. Now 5mins rolling would have me in A&E on a breather!! I first need to work on a base level of fitness and the technique issues before I can get into more intense training to aid recovery. My answer to this will be volume.

My training value at the moment is still too low. I will now make sure that there is a minimum of 3 cardion sessions a week done. As well as daily physical exercises that can be down around the house like press-ups and pull-ups. Through sheer volume of training I will see the base level of fitness increase to a level where I can complete I run without needed to walk the burn off!!

New Skills

After a full day of lessons and practice I am now a certified recreational level snow boarder. It was a really long day and I burned some serious kcals through training for 3hrs. It is such hard work on the lower body and core. Constant strain on the quads, hamstrings and glutes. The glutes get trashed!! Not only from none stop work but from falling flat on them too.

Made the most of the time training by running up the slope every time to get on it faster to get more practice and get a bit more phys in. I am definitely feeling the gains of my training even in such a short period of time. My legs are becoming more muscular as they feel more toned already. It is a massive moral boost to be feeling benefits already. It just spurs me on to do more and keep up the variety in the training.

I also may be starting swimming once a week because lets face it you have to search high and low to find a better workout than swimming. Obviously MMA circuit training is a close second but I think I need to get some more muscular strength and endurance before I can cross that bridge properly. Definitely going to focusing on fitness training rather than bulking up. What is the use in muscle if its for show? Not to mention the fact that a functional muscular body looks a lot better than someone who just goes to the gym and does bicep curls all day!? I have now subscribed to a new magazine "Train Hard Fight Easy" which is an MMA training magazine to give me a few more training tools and ideas to use. I am now more and more becoming a believer that variety in training is definitely the key to keeping results and gains coming so the body cant easily adapt.

Weekly Update

I know its been a while but I have been keeping on top of things. All this week I have introduced 2 press-up pyramids a day into my regime as well as using my grip master again. As a result my hands are crampy as buggery!!

The weeks events began on Monday with a run from home to Sir Jacks and back which is round trip of just under 7 miles. Not bad considering 3 miles nearly killed me the other day. The main down point with the run was that with my new trainers not being worn in for very long at they were eating through my feet by the time I got to the tan yard. So I had to have a couple of stops along the way to give myself a breather from the pain. I will also own up to having to walk from Sir Jacks to just before Wicko comp to ease the pain a bit. I then ran my heart out as far as could with only 1 stop near the stag because of the pain the blisters with giving me. My cardio was not too bad at all, in fact I was suprised and impressed that I didnt have to cop out because of poor fitness. Fair enough we were going at a pretty slow speed but then it was 7 miles!! When my shoes are worn in properly it is my goal to do the run again without stopping no matter how long it takes me.

I have also discovered snow boarding!! This was on Tuesday. It is totally awesome, not too great cardio obviously although I did run up the hill every time rather than walk to get a bit more of a sweat on. It was really a muscular workout on the legs obviously since 99% of the work done is down there. Your quads and thighs are under constant strain and its also a great core workout as the balance needed is obviously pretty high. Especially when you have got to be half squating with your hips forward most of the time!! I did level 1 lesson which is obviously pretty basic but I am off to do level 2 (possibly 3) and hit the slopes later today (Friday).

So not a world of exercise being done obviously but with my friends birthday in Leeds Tuesday till Wednesday and my brother getting home yesterday I haven't honestly had chance. So making up for it with a myriad of different sports/exercises for all round fitness. The long road continues and it is becoming more and more interesting each time I exercise.

Out With The Old

A little late on the post but I did do more running on Sunday. It was a horrible experience kicking off with a gradient gaining around 100m in about 800m. It was really hard going not just for my heart but my shoes were the main cause for concern!! They were killing me!! After half a mile my feet were beginning to blister and was getting worse and worse with each step. This didn't help my stature with little bro as he was cruising along have to wait for me. Not surprising given my previous life style. But good news is after having a gate analysis and purchasing a better fitting and more suitable set of running trainers its time to hit the pavement and burn through some miles and kcals.

A baby step at a time, I want to be doing a 4 mile run in around 30mins again before Xmas. Plenty of little targets to keep me entertained.

Testing The Waters

Before I went for a run this morning, for the first time ever I felt apprehensive about the whole thing. Not from fear of the unknown, it was a fear of the inevitable. I knew exactly how the run would go and I was not looking forward to it.

I didnt bother with breakfast because I wasnt too hungry. Mistake number 1. My piss was like syrup because I havent really being drinking too much at work. Mistake number 2. With the choices being fizzy pop, which I wont have anymore, tea which I'm sick of and water which we can all agree gets boring.

So I set off and right on que I was huffing and puffing in no time. I was acheing all over after 5mins and during the first incline I had to walk up the last few yards. The run I did was about 3 miles-ish which I used to get done in about 25mins on a bad day. Today it took me a miserable 30mins.

I didnt feel bad after run. Dont get me wrong I was hurtin' real bad, but I felt alot better for it. When the endorphins kicked in after a shower I was buzzing. Why did I ever stop???

As long as my bike is still in working condition it will be a cycle tomorrow. I will have to favour the bike over running because I dont want to try my luck and knacker my ankle again. Hopefully on the bike I can keep going for longer and its easier to manage speeds etc even on a gradient. If there is no post tomorrow, feel free to give my a boot for slacking off. But I have promised myself I will do it and I know I will.