Re: Training journal while learning to unicycle

[lillestrøm_uni]

I set several personal bests this morning

The most important one was swimming 3000 meters (500 more than
previosuly), but also nonstop (500 more than previously) and not only
that, but all of it was crawl! Previously I had to switch to breast
stroke after just 200 meters in order to "breathe", but now I managed
to pace myself and breathe on every third stroke, taking a deep gulp of
air to really fill my lungs, and even more importantly, breathe out
completely and not just partially each time. That is the secret I think
- in order to get as much oxygen as you can.

After about 2200 meters I was even able to start breathing for every
fourth stroke and the last 50 meters I did a sprint, breathing for
every fifth stroke, really feeling the urge for air as my blood levels
of carbon dioxide rose quickly.

On top of this, I managed to jog slowly both ways, not only from home
to the pool, but also all the way back afterwards, cutting the time for
5 km from about 45 minutes to about half an hour - and that while eating
an apple on the way home!

All in all, I pushed my limits way beyond what I thought was possible
at this time in my progress towards getting in better shape. I think
that's just excellent with regard to being able to mentally overcome my
difficulties in unicycling right now, where I need to "lean forward and
ride" as I've read several places as the key to move from standstill to
movement. It's all in your brain (when your muscles have adapted to the
balance thing, anyway).

I'll list my training efforts since 1 May here, to document the
progress:

7 May: 2000 meters swimming in 50 minutes - indoor 25m pool
12 May: 10 km running in 67 minutes
22 May: 2500 meters swimming in 51 minutes (2300 nonstop) - indoor 25m
pool
23 May: 2 hours walking
27 May: 10 km running in 63 minutes
29 May: 15 minutes swimming - Oslo fjord - about 15 degrees
31 May: 50 minutes walking
2 June: 2500 minutes swimming in 67 minutes - outdoor 50m pool + 5 km
jog/walk in 45 minutes + Day 1 unicycling - 3 hours
7 June: 4 hours biking
13 June: 2500 meters nonstop swimming in 55 minutes - outdoor 50m pool
(drove the car there)
14 June: Day 2 unicycling - 1,5 hours
17 June: Day 3 unicycling - 2 hours
20 June: Day 4 unicycling - 3 hours (hurt my knee)
24 June: 2000 meters swimming in 47 minutes - outdoor 50m pool + 5 km
jog/walk in 45 minutes
26 June: 3000 meters nonstop crawl swimming in 57 minutes - outdoor 50m
pool + 5 km jog in 30 minutes

This in addition to the regular morning exercise of 50 push-ups and 600
abs crunches. My weight has gone down from 97 kgs on 10 May to 88 kgs
today, with minima at 83 kgs on 3 June (which was the equivalent of 87
kgs since I had no food inside) and 84 kgs on 21 June (probably also on
a rather empty stomach).

So I really feel like I am making progress. I can't really remember
being this fit for more than 10 years Considering that I've been
running 10 km in an hour, I might even consider that my shape is as
good or even better than when I did 30 minute runs of about 5-6 km back
in 1995-1998 as a student, and if so then I have to go back to when I
was 17-18 to beat my current fitness level.

And I ain't gonna stop here


--
lillestrøm_uni

My 'training journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1025788).
My todo list (augustdreamt™): -Assisted mount-ride-idle- / *Ride */ PD
/ Turn / Idle / Hops / Curbs / Uneven ground / 'Mount / Rolling mount
/ Jump mount' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRW7ePkZ_8E) / Side mount
/ Kick-up mount
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[nubcake]

lillestrøm_uni wrote:
> taking a deep gulp of air to really fill my lungs, and even more
> importantly, breathe out completely and not just partially each time.
> That is the secret I think - in order to get as much oxygen as you can.



it's things like that which are pushed out of attention due to the
immediate need of attention to other things, like getting air in to
breathe. It's probably a good example of what my original posts in the
'learning' thread are all about... not the everyday mantra's and obvious
things to DO, but a question on what things might be being missed or
being done extra that isn't realised. In your case and swimming you
probably didn't realise at first you weren't fully exhaling, which
means you can't really get a full and fresh inhale.



> This in addition to the regular morning exercise of 50 push-ups and 600
> abs crunches. My weight has gone down from 97 kgs on 10 May to 88 kgs
> today, with minima at 83 kgs on 3 June (which was the equivalent of 87
> kgs since I had no food inside) and 84 kgs on 21 June (probably also on
> a rather empty stomach).



Be aware that ab crunches are a bit cheap so don't get too into how
many you can do. You would do better to put your attention elsewhere
(maybe hand-weights for leg and arm muscle development and for further
calorie expenditure). Think of it this way... a person can pretty much
stand or sit for as long as needed due to the 'core muscles' which is
generally just a shortcut for saying stomach and lower back muscles.
Now if you didn't already have 'a strong core' to begin with then you
wouldn't be able to function as every other person who sits and stands
and leans and sways etc, as a 'weak core' would mean you would struggle
keeping your upper body up in the first place. Now clearly you aren't
falling over yourself so your 'core' is clearly ok. I could probably
do lame crunches all day if I didn't get bored or hungry or need to pee
etc.

It's not about quantity it's about quality. Anyone can do a thousand
rubbish crunches that are useless. What counts with ALL muscle
development is actually taxing the muscles with a handful or two of
intense use e.g. for arms doing roughly 10-12 heavy weight lifts as
opposed to lifting a pencil 100,000 times, and for abs doing probably
at a guess around 30 to 50 intense crunches (perhaps like slow movement
V crunches where you lift your feet off the ground at the same time and
basically touch your toes vertically if you are flexible enough,
Pilates like).

As with all new exercise that is different from what used to be the
normal daily routine (watching tv eating a bag of Doritos and smoking
20 cigarettes during the ad breaks) there will be muscles that are
engaged more than usual which you will feel sore from at first as they
get used to being used, but like I said above with the stomach it's not
particularly beneficial to do many crunches / sit-ups as you aren't
likely to put on any significant or even noticeable muscle-mass in
those muscles without steroid abuse and some hardcore crunches using
weights/resistance to intensify the muscle requirement. You'd fair
better to put that type of training (minus the steroids of course) into
your legs and arms i think.

It's always better to strive for some more muscle than to just do lots
of aerobic-like exercises as a person with more muscle doing nothing
burns more calories than a person with less muscle doing nothing, so in
the day to day scheme of things when not actually working-out a person
with more muscle is accruing more calorie expenditure 'on the cheap' so
to speak. Moderation is the key though because who wants to be a 100
kilo mound of muscle who gets puffed walking up a flight of stairs and
has lots of strength but no stamina.



> So I really feel like I am making progress. I can't really remember
> being this fit for more than 10 years Considering that I've been
> running 10 km in an hour, I might even consider that my shape is as
> good or even better than when I did 30 minute runs of about 5-6 km back
> in 1995-1998 as a student, and if so then I have to go back to when I
> was 17-18 to beat my current fitness level.
>
> And I ain't gonna stop here



Maybe even write-down what you are currently doing and store that away
somewhere for future reference in case you lose the plot a little and
change things too much and lose your way... that way you can always
read what your plan was for now when things felt great and you were
making progress. It's just too easy to change small things bit by bit
and then completely get lost and forget where you were going and how
you were getting there.


--
nubcake
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