Way to go. This is for everyone who says, i lift but not heavy.
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In the gym
How are gym things for everyone?
I feel like I'm on an upswing. My goal is still to work at deadlifts and see how much weight I'll be able to pull. It's a bit two steps forward / one step back with technique and body mechanics, which seems to be par for the course. Right now my coach has me doing sets of 15 reps at light weight. 15 reps is no joke for deadlifts. But my touch and go has gotten much, much better - something seemed to click for me just in the last week.
I had to put squats on hold - I was bracing with the right leg. I think this is a proprioception / compensation thing - ie, it's not about my knee anymore; it's about the muscles. My coach has me doing Bulgarian squats and this weird one leg foot placement thing - both of which seem to be helping. Six weeks of those before trying a "real" squat again. Both are intended to engage my medial quads; both set my glutes on fire. I'm told Bulgarian squats are often used by women trying to develop a callipygian form. Works for me - two birds, one stone.
In the meantime, "everything else" is improving. I'm being conservative, and it's paying off. If something hurts that day, I don't do it. If I'm doing full sets, I wait until the highest weight feels manageable before I go up. Lat pulldowns, dumbbell bench press, dumbbell incline press, seated cable rows, whatever else. My shoulders are getting better - so gradually I don't even notice it until one day I realize that I don't even remember the last time I had pain doing some exercise.
I joined a women's powerlifting group on Facebook. It's wonderful. The inclusiveness for all sorts of body shapes is amazing. Seeing their stats gives me a whole different idea of where I am on the curve - a lot of women are lifting some pretty impressive numbers.
In the meantime, I have so many exercises that I've barely been making it to my morning meetings. So I'm splitting my workout into two days. That means four days a week of 6am alarms, but at least I won't be stressed about meetings, and I even have time to stretch a little and do a few climbing routes. All subject to change, especially with the core of ski season rapidly approaching.
My core is bomber, thanks to decline sit ups and landmine twists. It helps a ton with mountain biking and climbing, and I know it will help my skiing tremendously. My knee has also continued to get better, so I hope for less pain, less swelling, and more vert this season.
There have been some hiccups in the home gym plan, but it sounds like I may have an adjustable bench in the next few months. If so, I'll be able to do some of the work from the comfort of my own home (okay, the frigid embrace of my garage).
I feel like I'm on an upswing. My goal is still to work at deadlifts and see how much weight I'll be able to pull. It's a bit two steps forward / one step back with technique and body mechanics, which seems to be par for the course. Right now my coach has me doing sets of 15 reps at light weight. 15 reps is no joke for deadlifts. But my touch and go has gotten much, much better - something seemed to click for me just in the last week.
I had to put squats on hold - I was bracing with the right leg. I think this is a proprioception / compensation thing - ie, it's not about my knee anymore; it's about the muscles. My coach has me doing Bulgarian squats and this weird one leg foot placement thing - both of which seem to be helping. Six weeks of those before trying a "real" squat again. Both are intended to engage my medial quads; both set my glutes on fire. I'm told Bulgarian squats are often used by women trying to develop a callipygian form. Works for me - two birds, one stone.
In the meantime, "everything else" is improving. I'm being conservative, and it's paying off. If something hurts that day, I don't do it. If I'm doing full sets, I wait until the highest weight feels manageable before I go up. Lat pulldowns, dumbbell bench press, dumbbell incline press, seated cable rows, whatever else. My shoulders are getting better - so gradually I don't even notice it until one day I realize that I don't even remember the last time I had pain doing some exercise.
I joined a women's powerlifting group on Facebook. It's wonderful. The inclusiveness for all sorts of body shapes is amazing. Seeing their stats gives me a whole different idea of where I am on the curve - a lot of women are lifting some pretty impressive numbers.
In the meantime, I have so many exercises that I've barely been making it to my morning meetings. So I'm splitting my workout into two days. That means four days a week of 6am alarms, but at least I won't be stressed about meetings, and I even have time to stretch a little and do a few climbing routes. All subject to change, especially with the core of ski season rapidly approaching.
My core is bomber, thanks to decline sit ups and landmine twists. It helps a ton with mountain biking and climbing, and I know it will help my skiing tremendously. My knee has also continued to get better, so I hope for less pain, less swelling, and more vert this season.
There have been some hiccups in the home gym plan, but it sounds like I may have an adjustable bench in the next few months. If so, I'll be able to do some of the work from the comfort of my own home (okay, the frigid embrace of my garage).
Still banned by my PT. But, I’m sneaking in some strength exercises at home
Ever try walking upstairs backwards? Bent down-steps at waist, torso erect not hunched. I had no idea what muscles are used, and still would not if the left side had not been injured.
I do admire the callipygian form; the steatopygic, not as much.
Haven't. Not sure what you mean by "bent down-steps at waist." I can picture walking upstairs while facing the direction you'd normally face going downstairs - is that about it?
I do admire the callipygian form; the steatopygic, not as much.
I suspect that the line between the two is different for different people ...
Walk up backwards. Hence one faces down. Walk up with waist bent; keep torso erect, not hunched. Vary degree of angle of bend. Oh, hold handrail.
Oh, then try it with some weights. I discovered my left side reduced capability when helping my son carry up a chair. I was the one above, going up backwards, bearing weight
Oh, the PT says it’s ok for me. Just don’t do it in a funky way, like twisting the pelvis. Do the left as I do the right
It's the waist part I find confusing. So like, your back is at a 90* angle from your legs?
Can be. Vary the angle. My reference angle is torso 90 degree to slope of steps, as in skiing. But, we aren’t skiing. So angle can be varied. Higher angle increases the difficulty
Higher steps also increase difficulty
Congrats on the upswing! As for myself it's 50/50. I'm feeling stronger and recover quicker from the workouts. The negative is that the pounds aren't dropping as fast as I would like. I need to have patience but it's hard.
My trainer says I have another week of the power phase and then I'm starting the muscle exhaustion phase. That'll run to the end of December.
I went back to work and now I'm really not making it to the gym. I've been swimming Masters after work, and cycling the other days. I'm pretty sure even the light lifting I was doing was helping my swimming, but I just can't get myself to go to the gym. I think I'm going to go back to strength training at home (and maybe a group workout to supplement that).
It's really hard to get things done around work. Btdt - not sure the specifics are the same, but the transition has always been a little rough.
I'm in maintenance now waiting for the ski season. Which means I'm at my peak aerobically as during the season I'll get in 2-3 aero workouts a week vs. 5-6 now. Core for me stays activated skiing so I can maintain with 1-2 workouts a week which is great as I really don't enjoy core work, I enjoy the results. My weight is dead on target, once I get calorie burns from skiing I can eat like crazy. Upper body is smooth sailing, everything feels balanced in fact no kinks anywhere. Muscle group balance training works!
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- May 17, 2017
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Monique***
" I had to put squats on hold - I was bracing with the right leg. I think this is a proprioception / compensation thing - ie, it's not about my knee anymore; it's about the muscles."
Here's a thought Monique. Sign up or buy a Crossfit Journal subscription. I know it sounds drastic but they do know lifting and they offer specific guides to good lifting. While you are on the mend with back squats (I assume that you are talking about back squats), learn some of the basics. I don't know what you coach is teaching and I would not be inclined to criticize him or her. But two things are important when doing squats. 1. go to 90* or lower at the bottom of the squat and 2. protect your lumbar curve. So this could be - tilt your butt back to start the decent. Then stay firm and keep the curve in your lower back (lumbar). The Journal should show examples. It is very important. Back squats can yield big benefits for skiers.
For 1. no quarter squats or compromised squats. Learn where your optimum stance is located. You can do air squats, then progress to holding a plate on your chest then add a bar and then on to weights. Maybe 8 reps but it is not necessary to over do it on the reps. The skill of dumping the bar is important and needs to be learned and practiced. Crossfit uses high-bar and low bar squats plus front squats.
You mentioned deadlifts. Also great for skiing. I have found that doing reps of deadlifts can be a concern for injury. Deadlifts are a heavy lift so it might be wise to do one at a time instead of banging them out. The idea is to move the weight up as you improve. So that means 3, 4 or 5 reps @ 3 or 4 sets plus trying for one rep max every now and then. By slowing down the speed of the reps and focusing on the lumbar curve is easier and safer. Lumbar curve is critical for deadlifting. If you are around unskilled athletes deadlifting watch for the rolled back... not good.
All of these lifts are targeted to strength gains. The key to these gains is rest. That's when the muscles become strong. Once your strength takes off, train each muscle group less - whatever that means for you. That could be deadlifts once a week for really strong folks.
Hope you don't mind me sharing this.
" I had to put squats on hold - I was bracing with the right leg. I think this is a proprioception / compensation thing - ie, it's not about my knee anymore; it's about the muscles."
Here's a thought Monique. Sign up or buy a Crossfit Journal subscription. I know it sounds drastic but they do know lifting and they offer specific guides to good lifting. While you are on the mend with back squats (I assume that you are talking about back squats), learn some of the basics. I don't know what you coach is teaching and I would not be inclined to criticize him or her. But two things are important when doing squats. 1. go to 90* or lower at the bottom of the squat and 2. protect your lumbar curve. So this could be - tilt your butt back to start the decent. Then stay firm and keep the curve in your lower back (lumbar). The Journal should show examples. It is very important. Back squats can yield big benefits for skiers.
For 1. no quarter squats or compromised squats. Learn where your optimum stance is located. You can do air squats, then progress to holding a plate on your chest then add a bar and then on to weights. Maybe 8 reps but it is not necessary to over do it on the reps. The skill of dumping the bar is important and needs to be learned and practiced. Crossfit uses high-bar and low bar squats plus front squats.
You mentioned deadlifts. Also great for skiing. I have found that doing reps of deadlifts can be a concern for injury. Deadlifts are a heavy lift so it might be wise to do one at a time instead of banging them out. The idea is to move the weight up as you improve. So that means 3, 4 or 5 reps @ 3 or 4 sets plus trying for one rep max every now and then. By slowing down the speed of the reps and focusing on the lumbar curve is easier and safer. Lumbar curve is critical for deadlifting. If you are around unskilled athletes deadlifting watch for the rolled back... not good.
All of these lifts are targeted to strength gains. The key to these gains is rest. That's when the muscles become strong. Once your strength takes off, train each muscle group less - whatever that means for you. That could be deadlifts once a week for really strong folks.
Hope you don't mind me sharing this.
I joined my gym after foot surgery because they were the only gym in town with a hand cycle. They are also attached to a great PT practice. But they're all the way across town, and the weights aren't enough to get me there. I do my cardio training outdoors, so not interested in the treadmills, etc. I might look into our climbing gym to see if they have weights. I was a member there about ten years ago, but I never looked at their weights. I don't know if I could get into my climbing shoes now, but at least a climbing gym has a more interesting vibe (to me).
I don't mind, but unfortunately it also doesn't help. I understand proper squat technique. My leg won't let me do it properly. My coach is giving me exercises to get the surgerized leg on board. I've already noticed improved results hiking after starting his alternate exercises. As usual, he is more effective than the PTs I've seen. As for deadlifts, the ones I'm doing aren't heavy. The whole point is to do lots of them and perfect technique before moving to big weights. So far it's been very effective. Everything my coach has ever given me over the last decade has been very effective at helping me achieve my goal at the time. Unfortunately, I always seem to get injured outside the gym, or I fall off the wagon during ski season.
Yeah, I like the vibe. But it's probably got a smaller area than a traditional gym, so check it out. Ours has one treadmill and - newly - a rowing machine to replace the second treadmill. I did find some spin bikes stashed way off in another corner of the gym. Then again, I don't use any of that, anyway
Do I need to facetime you from my morning squat sets???? I thought we had an offseason pact!
I had been into the gym before I started skiing but now I consider it critical.
Consider 2 different experiences.
1. December 2017: My second ski trip ever, still a bit of a newb. I slack off in the gym for about a month before heading out to CO to ski. Result, on my first nasty fall I injure my rotator cuff. 4 months of PT needed after getting home.
2. April 2018: My third ski trip ever, for more than a month before I headed back to CO, I pushed myself as hard as I could in the gym to get stronger and had good progress. On the slopes I took a couple more nasty falls (still a newb), but this time it was like that's nothing and got right back up, no injuries.
Conclusion (and I've heard this from others too), working out regularly reduces the likelihood of injury even when the body is subjected to excess stress.
Consider 2 different experiences.
1. December 2017: My second ski trip ever, still a bit of a newb. I slack off in the gym for about a month before heading out to CO to ski. Result, on my first nasty fall I injure my rotator cuff. 4 months of PT needed after getting home.
2. April 2018: My third ski trip ever, for more than a month before I headed back to CO, I pushed myself as hard as I could in the gym to get stronger and had good progress. On the slopes I took a couple more nasty falls (still a newb), but this time it was like that's nothing and got right back up, no injuries.
Conclusion (and I've heard this from others too), working out regularly reduces the likelihood of injury even when the body is subjected to excess stress.
Tom Petty was referring to this.
I've actually managed to get into the gym 2-3 times per week which is pretty good considering work and school commitments. Most days I'm doing 30+ minutes of cardio, often while reading cases for school.
Then I'm doing 2 sets of a full body weights. While I realize it would probably be better to have upper body and lower body days, my schedule is so sporadic and planned workouts drop away due to workload so I don't want to end up missing whole body groups. My coach is writing me a basic plan which will give me a couple of days of weights each week then a day of more plyometrics workout in addition to the cardio.
Then I'm doing 2 sets of a full body weights. While I realize it would probably be better to have upper body and lower body days, my schedule is so sporadic and planned workouts drop away due to workload so I don't want to end up missing whole body groups. My coach is writing me a basic plan which will give me a couple of days of weights each week then a day of more plyometrics workout in addition to the cardio.
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