#412: Cross Training (Bells, Bands, and Balls)

Water jogging: zero gravity = zero impact

Cross training for a runner is the fitness work you do outside of running. Maybe you do it on an off day while your running engine is recovering. Maybe it's another form of cardio exercise like cycling or water jogging (my latest obsession and one of Mrs P's favorites.) Then there's always the weight room. Strength training for runners is a little controversial. There are concerns that too much muscle mass will slow a runner down and that too much lower body strength work will keep the most important running muscles from recovering before your next time on the road. 

I respect my body's need for recovery, and rarely run two days in a row. If I want to hit my lower body with the weights, I try to to it on running days, after my road work. I can't lift as much weight this way, but I feel like it gives my old wheels the best workout and the best chance to get ready for my next run. I'm always interested in learning about new modes of cross training, and Coach Carrie is introducing me to a whole bucket load of them.

RING DEM BELLS

Barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells: they're all iron weights that you swing, press, lift, or pull to build muscle strength and endurance. I've always liked the first two, but am just learning about the beauty of the kettlebell.

The kettlebell is a primitive looking gizmo of cast iron with a with a flat bottom and a heavy handle on top. Russian athletes have been using them for centuries. In the 1960s, they were introduced to the United States, and are gradually becoming a part of every serious trainer's arsenal. Coach uses them as part of a brutal High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout that involves sets of kettlebell exercises punctuated by hill sprints to build speed and strength while keeping the heart rate pounding for 20-30 minutes. Believe me, if you're doing it right, that's all you can take. There's a lot of technique involved in using the kettleball, so I strongly suggest you get help from someone who knows what they're doing before you plunge in.

STRIKE UP THE BAND

 I learned about resistance bands and tubes at PROMATX, my first gym, and I even have a rig set up on the back porch for one. You might think pulling on a big rubber band is a pretty wussy workout. You would be wrong.

It's a gym you can carry in your pocket.

Resistance bands are inexpensive, portable, and more versatile than any other exercise mode I can think of, (other than pure body weight exercises.) You can use hook them to a wall, wrap them around your foot, pull with them, push against them,  and stretch with them. You can create workouts that give you a real pump and burn based on hundreds of reps, not just dozens. They are a great switch from the other more macho workouts, and they will leave you panting and pumped. They're also less likely to hurt you when you get tired, but the still need to be respected. Form is just as important with a resistance tube as it is with a 300# squat.

IN THE BALLROOM

Balls, specifically the Swiss Ball and the classic medicine ball, are especially good for building core strength and flexibility. 

An illustration of the importance of form...

Swiss balls are ubiquitous. This big bouncy beauties turn up in the weight room, the yoga studio, and the Pilates classroom. They can provide an inexpensive home workout, but be warned, they take up a lot of space, and your dogs may find them irresistible. Also called "fitness balls," they can be used to intensify almost any exercise or stretch by forcing you to engage your core to keep your balance on top of the thing. Careful though: They are not indestructible, and putting too much weight on one can result in a catastrophic failure that sends you crashing to the floor. 

Grandaddy about to bite it in some old-school dodge ball.

When I heard the words "Medicine Ball," I always thought of those big leather balls with the stitching on the side that people used to throw back and forth in the Gay 'Nineties. Today, Medicine balls are tough, resilient, heavy buggers that you can throw, swing, press, bounce against the wall, carry while you run, and balance on top off while you do pushups. They come in different weights, sizes, and designs. Some look like basketballs, and others have handles molded in. 

Not your father's medicine ball

Coach likes to add them into other exercises. One day, she had me out in the sun doing step ups on the bleachers while pressing a Medicine Ball over my head each time I got to the top. I was a little bit delirious after 25 reps of that one. But pressing through to the end taught me just how much fatigue and adversity I could overcome. That's a lesson every runner needs.


WATER, WHEELS, AND WALKING
Cardio cross training is about maintaining conditioning in your heart and lungs without overtraining the muscles you need for your primary sport. I try everything. I encourage you to do the same. Get in the pool. Catch a group exercise class. Check out Zumba or TRX, or spinning. Or hit the road for a good strong walk or a bike ride. There are endorphins out there to be had, and you can get them flowing lots of ways. I'm finding that cross training isn't just fun and a great way to meet new people, it's also making me a stronger, faster, more mentally tough runner. 

Peace,
Pennsy

Full Disclosure: Pennsy is a member and

 employee at the North Lexington Family YMCA

Unsolicited commercial announcement: here's a great place to cross train in the Bluegrass, if you're interested... Just sayin'.

#228: What Keeps Your Heart Beating?

I finished Lance Armstrong's book today. It's given me a lot to think about. What is the purpose of cancer? How will it change me? What will I do with the rest of my life, once this part of the battle is over? Maybe more important than any of those, how do I hold on to what really matters, now that I've been given a second chance at life?

This is all a little premature, I guess. I do have four more radiation treatments left, then a year before I can be declared "cancer free," but it does feel as if something is coming to a close in the next few days.

He used the phrase "cancer fighter" to describe first a little child he met, then himself. I like that. I will fight the cancer in me, and I have an obligation to the people who come after me to fight for them, too. Maybe that will mean raising money. Maybe giving motivational speeches or rides to the grocery store. But somehow, I need to repay the kindness that has been shown me - the kindness that has saved my life.

There are two things in my life that I love more than anything - my wife and the theatre. I have devoted far too much of myself to other things in the past few years. Things I guess I thought I should. Being good at jobs. Being a good provider. Being a good Christian. Now I look back, I'm not sure what any of those things means. I know I want to love my wife, and I want to make theatre. That's who I really am, and it's probably the best way to do all those other things, too.

The thing is, Lance Armstrong's journey back to life is still going on, even after all those Tour victories, all these years. My own journey back is just beginning. I know now that it will never be over. No matter what the CT scans say. No matter if I spend the next twenty years cancer free or the next twenty weeks waiting to die, my journey goes on. So does yours. I know what it took to make me change course. I wish there were some way to convince folks that they don't have to wait for cancer to decide to start living. It took a death sentence to get my attention. The man gave me even odds that I would not live to be 55. I decided to take the bet. I decided to start living that day.

Will I succeed? Depends what you mean. If success means outliving that number, well yeah, I'm gonna do that. But that isn't really success, not to me. The question is will I be really alive for the rest of my days? No matter how many there are. That will be the test of my success. Every day that I'm as alive as I can be will be a success. That's how I'll know I've beaten cancer. Not just if my heart keeps beating, but why.

I did something that surprised me today. I dug out the resistance bands. It's pretty hot for walking, and my throat is pretty gummy for breathing hard, so I tried another way to move. I did some upper body exercises, curls and presses and things. Nothing strenuous. Just enough to get my heart pumping a little. Mrs P has pointed out that my weight is just about where it was when I was performing at my best back before I lost my job. I don't pretend that my fitness is back there yet. I can't squat my weight or run a 5K just yet, but I am a lot closer to the size I need to be than I was before I got sick. Who knows. Maybe it won't be long before Fat Man Running is an exercise blog again. That will be great.

But it won't be a blog about losing weight. It will be a blog about gaining life.

Just like it should have been all along.

Peace,

pennsy

#154 Returning to the Gym After a Loooong Hiatus

Weight	Body Fat	BP
394	42.8%	148 / 95

I'm not all the way back to where I was before I started working out in 2008. Just most of the way. I'm not really discouraged because I'm not really surprised. I knew I wasn't getting the exercise I needed, and I watched every bite of food as it went in. The truth is, I was so depressed most of the time that I didn't care if I gained weight and lost strength or not. Well I've spent some quality time with the headshrinkers and it turns out that yes, I do care. I lived healthy once, and saw the results of that change. I can do it again.

I am making some changes in my approach. this time. I will be keeping my workouts much simpler and more intense. I want to burn off some of this fat in a hurry, and the way to do that is through frequency, intensity, and nutrition.

I am not going to get as involved in all those numbers that I love so well. Less time crunching data and more time crunching abs. I'll still update the "Tale of the Tape" periodically, but mostly I'll be tracking the three metrics above. Weight is easy to understand and to measure. Body Fat Percentage is also easy, and I think it's an important qualifier for body weight. Lots of athletes are classified obese even though they have very low body fat. Clearly that is not the case with me right now. But one day...

The last and scariest number is the one I've not tracked in the past: Blood Pressure. That's become important since my recent career struggles. I have taken a stab at several jobs, even tried to start my own business, but have not seen a steady paycheck for 14 months now. The combined stress of unemployement and poor job matches left me very depressed and hypertensive for the first time in my life. We are controlling it with medication for the time being, but I would rather do so with aerobic exercise if I can. I'll be hitting the cardio hard, but with care to be sure I am improving without having a stroke on the step climber.

My initial workouts are very gentle and low impact. The biggest difference I've noticed, besides my weight, is the weakness in my legs and butt. Squats are a real effort, and a lunge is not a realistic possibility. I'll be building leg strength in some other ways until the weight and joints are ready for those big lifts again. More on lower body later.

My cardio workout is 30 minutes on the treadmill in a very strict run/walk rhythm. I set the belt at what feels like a comfortably brisk walk to me, then alternate walking and jogging every 60 seconds, changing my gait without changing speeds. That allows me to get my heart rate up and a good sweat going, more than I could have with a faster walk. I am also able to go much farther than if I had been running or walking full speed the entire time.

Resistance training is also light; just upper body work with a blue band clipped to the wall. Push/Pull/Twist - Standing Chest Press, Standing Row, Woodchopper Right, Wood chopper Left. 50 reps each without rest between. That keeps my heart rate up and got a real burn started in my arms and obliques.

I'm also doing some things at home to work on the lower body strength. We've been moving furniture and boxes from the second floor to the basement. That's a lot of trips up and down stairs. I am being very deliberate in the way I lift and carry things. I don't want to hurt my back, and I want to practice my form so my body remembers how to lift heavy iron as well as liquor boxes full of old paperbacks.

All in all, it's good to be Pennsy today. My mental health is as good as it has ever been, I'm turning my body back in the right direction, and career prospects seem just over the horizon. I just have to keep working in the right directions.

Peace,
Pennsy

Weak as a Kitten?

For the first time in a very long time, I finished a workout without pain.

Of course I finished about an hour early...

I've been on vacation this week. We visited Mom and the family up in Pennsyl', then drove back to 'Tucky on Tuesday. Yesterday work left me ragged so I came home and went to bed early, intending to try the 5:0o AM workout. Instead, I woke up around 1:30 with an annoying cough that cut my night's rest pretty much in half. No pre-dawn bench press for me.

Work was really good today, and I hit the gym ready to pound some iron. I blew through my warmup with the resistance bands, then did ball squats with heavier dumbells than I'd ever used before. It felt great to be working and sweating. After recovering from my squats, I squeezed out four sets of crunches then settled in to a nice long stretching session. I'm happy to report that the legs and ankles feel great, no pain, no popping, no limping. I felt a little tired, like I had over-done the bands a little, so I took an extra few minutes before starting in the power cage with deadlifts. I ripped out a set of deadlifts with good weight and good form, feeling strong and sound. When I put the barbell down and stood up after the last rep, My head was spinning. I often experience a little head rush after big leg lifts like deadlifts or clean and press, but this was more like that spinning "shall I faint or shall I puke?" kind of feeling. I sat down on the edge of the cage for a few minutes to try to collect myself, then started my second set.

Four reps. That's it. Rack 'em up and go home. I felt not just fatigued, but weak, like when you get the flu. I wandered back to the locker long enough to stuff my street clothes and towel into my bag and then went out to the car. I was fried. Feasting on Grammy's poppyseed cake, sleeping fitfully, and sixteen hours on the road had taken their toll on my conditioning.

Walking across the parking lot was when I noticed... Hey! My legs don't hurt! Nothing hurt. Shoulders? Check. Ankles? Check. Hips, Knees, Back? Check, check, and check. If I thought I could have done it without passing out, I might have gone back in for a spin on the elliptical. Instead I came home feeling weak as a kitten whose legs don't hurt.

When I get a good night's sleep, those dumbells better have their crash helmets on -- the Fat Man is coming back!

Peace,
Pennsy

Disturbing Kitty-cat images are from Epicycle.

Derby Day

If you don't recognize the big red champion in this photo, stay out of Kentucky.

Seriously.

Maybe you’ve heard. We’re having a little horse race in the Bluegrass today. After a loud, blowing rainstorm last night, the sun is out, the roses are red, and the grass is as blue as as Bill Monroe’s mandolin strings.

I’m no racing fan. I don’t understand the language and watching Barbaro break his beautiful leg made me wish I’d never heard of horse racing. I’d much rather watch people risking their own necks in stock cars.

Still.

These horses are just about the most beautiful athletes in the world. I’d rather see them in the pasture than the paddock, but I’ll be watching them today, praying that no one gets hurt and the bravest one wins.

My friend Alex likes Pyro, I’m leaning toward Eight Belles, but only because I think it would be a hoot to see a lady dressed in roses. Mrs P agrees with Alex. Molly likes Big Brown - draw your own conclusions. The cats think the whole thing is just stupid.

I hit the gym ready to go this morning. After two days off, I wanted to get back to work, but I wanted to start easy. I did 10 minutes on the Step climber, getting better every day. I took another shot at the resistance band workout that I failed so badly on Wednesday. I finished, but I still cant believe what a workout they give me.

The run felt really good. 2.25 miles in 30 minutes. The fastest I could walk was 4.5 mph. Today is the first day I ran faster than I could walk. It seems like every day is a new milestone.

Now, where did we hide the good bourbon?

Peace, y’all
Pennsy

Chasing the Gremlin

Mrs P thought it was funny that my ankle felt better but my shoulder hurt.

“It’s like you have a gremlin running around sticking a fork into different joints.”

So, gremlin it is -- the naughty creature that does no real harm, but skitters around my body while I try to chase him out with cold packs and muscle cream.

The image kind of takes the sting out of the little fellow, actually. This one was drawn by an artist named Morthern. I found him on Gremlins Online. You can look for him there, or in whichever part of my body hurts next.

I went to Promatx at lunch today to try a mid-day workout. I asked Brad if he thought I should take a break between resistance days and he said I could probably alternate days, Bands Monday, Weights Tuesday, etc. The exercises are very different so following them one day after the other shouldn't do any harm. I'll experiment and see what my body has to say.

Of course now I have to find a way to get all this work in during waking hours. Maybe I’ll try to just get half an hour of cardio in everyday and alternate with the resistance training for a while.

Peace,
b

Fat Man, Heal thy Heel

The low grade soreness in my right Achilles tendon has lasted long enough to get my attention. it isn’t painful, just sore. Warming up usually loosens it up and it isn’t preventing me from working out, though I have had to shorten my stride considerably on the treadmill. I don’t want it to get worse, so I did some homework.

As you can see from this drawing that I found on eOrthopod.com, the Achilles tendon is really big. It attaches the calf muscles to the very short lever at the back of the heel and allows the foot to flex. If you can stand on your toes, thank Achilles. This is one butch rope of tissue.

According to Dr. Stephen Pribut, DPM (that's a foot doc for the acronymically challenged), "Soreness” in a tendon is not something to ignore or "run through". Tendons don’t get sore like muscles do. Tendons hurt when they are injured. In other words, the discomfort I'm feeling isn't the result of normal exertion like when I lift heavy weights and my muscles feel especially "present" the next day. If a tendon hurts, that's not soreness, that's pain. A painful injured Achilles tendon is something to take seriously and requires immediate attention. Otherwise it will just get worse. The tendon can even rupture (tear) and break completely leaving a runner with months of expensive rehab and NO running while the surgically repaired tissue heals. A ruptured Achilles sucks most profoundly.

Like everything else involving health and the internet, there is plenty of controversy about what to do about Achilles pain, but these seem to be consensus opinions.

LEAVE THE MACHISMO IN YOUR LOCKER
Dr Pribut's first instruction is one everyone agrees with: rest. You don’t have to stop exercising, but slow down. Ease up on things that put particular strain on the tendon: Hill running, Sprinting, Deep stretches of the calf muscles. Shoes with too soft a heel can also cause the Achilles to stretch too far after the foot's initial impact when you're running or walking. Running on your toes instead of your heels will wack you up. I think mine may be the result of too long a stride. Shortening up and taking more smaller steps is helping me. This tendon is terrifically strong because it sustains tremendous force, even during something as simple as walking. Like the cable and pulley on a weight machine, the Achilles is always under strain whenever the foot is in motion. So rule one is - go easy .

FIRE AND ICE (AND A NICE RUB DOWN)

In an article in the Jewish World Review , Marlene Cimons (who lacks an acronym, but does her homework) reports that ice after exercise and heat before bed will help control inflamation and relax the gastrocnemius which is a very impressive word for calf muscle. A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory can help - cortisone is wicked bad. Don't let the doc shoot you with it to ease the pain. Cortisone will make you feel better for a while, but it also weakens the fibers in the tendon making it even more prone to tear or rupture.

Massaging the calf can also help. Heel lifts, tape, and elastic braces can get you through the day, but still, only rest will allow the injury to heal.

CAREFUL, GENTLE STRETCHING
CoolRunning has some good stretches for prevention and maintenance for runners. When returning from an Achilles injury, wall pushups and hamstring stretches are especially important. I have had some really bad results from the towel around the foot thing. I think I actually aggravated the injury by pulling too hard. Your mileage may vary.


DON'T CROSS TRAIN AT CROSS PURPOSES

The amazingly named achillestendon.com, recommends some common sense things (stay fit, go easy, check for injury after your workout) and one really interesting one. When you do strength training and run on the same day - run first. Strength training is based on microscopic injury and healing of muscles. Running after weakening your muscles with resistance training just sets you up for further injury.

NO PAIN, NO PAIN

In a wise and funny essay called How Not to Treat and Achilles Injury by a writer named Wiltsey, this advice makes a lot of sense to me:

“Pain sucks”--This might seem obvious, but if it hurts, back off. Cut down your workout to minimal, preferably rest. Although this is anathema to most training athletes, better to miss a couple weeks than your entire season, like me.

My doctor gave me a simple rule to live by- “Let pain be your guide.” Simply, if it hurts, don’t do it and back off. A good recovery program is a must. Consult your coach, or begin with 5 minute sets of walking and every few days add thirty seconds of light jogging.

Achilles pain is really easy to fix unless you get stupid. Then it's really easy to make really really bad. Take it seriously and take it easy until it gets better.

That's what I learned in school today..

WORKOUT UPDATE
My big meeting concluded on Thursday and I went straight to the gym. I had a lot of steam to blow off.

I did a light warm up on the treadmill, then spent a long time stretching. I’m not noticing any increase in flexibility yet - but I am definitely feeling a much shorter recovery time so I can tell that stretching after warmups and after the workout itself is making a difference.

I worked out with the resistance bands and really tried to hold my form while going as fast as I could, snapping each rep against the resistance of the band. It still feels ridiculous when I do it, but my doubts all disappear the next day when my body lets me know that the exercises have done their work. I’m going to do a session with machines and some free weights on Saturday to measure my progress and keep my chops up.

And I guess I better spend some more time on the elliptical for a while.

Peace,
Pennsy

Punching Rubber and Musings on my Inner Fat Man

I am still surprised at how much the resistance bands wear me out.



The movements Brad taught me emphasize velocity. Each one explodes from its starting point. So you start a chest press with the handles at your shoulders, then punch both arms straight forward as fast as you can. I have tried this kind of movement with weights and it is very hard to keep them under control. It also bangs the joints. The resistance bands don’t seem to stress the joints at all. And sitting here three hours after my workout, I can feel that my muscles were just as surprised as I was.

A nice half hour of intervals on the elliptical finished off the sweaty part of the night, then stretches, a sauna, and shower.

I’m still pretty stoked about yesterday’s weigh-in, but there's thin ice ahead. The next few days are going to be stressful at work. I am only planning to take Wednesday off at the gym, but getting there tomorrow is going to be a squeeze. We will be working in the conference room for most of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday which means little walking and lots of noshing. I’ll make sure there are plenty of veggies in arms reach. I really don’t want to backslide now.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. - Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

A lot of the men at the gym workout in front of mirrors or watch themselves as they do curls or whatever. Maybe they’re watching their form, maybe their just admiring how great their muscles look. I don’t really look that great yet, so I avoid the mirrors. But here at home, I find myself feeling new shapes and ridges in my shoulders and arms that I’ve never felt before. my knees are actually smaller than my calves. My body is changing and it kind of fascinates me to watch the changes.

And sometimes I wonder, when my body has completed this strange metamorphosis, will I change on the inside? Will I be more confident? More assertive? Will I become a bully or a gentle giant? When I stop thinking that people see me as fat, what will I imagine that they see? What will I see?

Just like the sub-300 pound mark and the sub-40 inch waist, I guess I’ll have to wait to find out.

I’d hate to do all this work and just find a skinny fat man inside.

Peace,
Pennsy

Gum-Banz for Pennsy

If you didn’t grow up in the region of Pennsyltucky where I was raised, you probably never heard of gum-banz. They’re those rubber loops you use to wrap around a bundle of one dollar bills or hold your ponytail in place or shoot at your little sister. Folks from other places call them “rubber bands” but that just seems like a waste of letters to me.

Today I learned to exercise using great big gum-banz. It looks like something a sissy would do. Any sissy who can do the workout Brad taught me today, can have my lunch money anytime.

Let me describe this workout to you, because it sounds as crazy as it looks. Trust me, it isn't nearly as funny from the inside.

You start by bouncing a medicine ball - this ball is about the size of a basketball and weighs 6 or eight pounds - I don’t remember. You hold it up over your head, and slam it into the floor as hard as you can. Then you catch it and do it again. After about 90 seconds of this, I was warmed up and beginning a good soaking sweat.

Next is an exercise where you hold a ball with handles on both sides. You stagger your stance, then twist and reach down, as if you were picking up a watermelon. You explode up and across your body and reach high in the opposite direction.

Then we put the balls away and got out the resistance bands. Brad showed me how to clip them through a snap hook on the wall and do chest presses, rows, squat presses, oblique twists, and some crazy thing that I swear he made up on the spot. You bend down, press up, bend to the right, press up, bend to the left, press up, then bend down again. It was the end of the workout and I think I did two.Brad considered the prospect of giving me CPR on the floor of the gym, then agreed to let me stop for the day. He couldn’t think of a name for this last devilish exercise so I just suggested we call it the Bradley.

Oh, we also did my first real bench press with a barbell and everything. I felt like a kid again. Though I seem to remember benching a lot more weight when I was a kid.

I made my way to the treadmill with my shirt soaked, my arms numb, and my lower lip hanging helplessly from my slackened jaw.

My neighbor on the next machine chuckled knowingly. “Well, how was your session with Ol’ Blood and Guts?”

“That guy just whipped my butt with a big rubber band.”

“Yeah, he’s good at that.”

He is, actually.

This is just the sort of thing I wanted to add to my routine. It is a full-body workout with plenty for the limbs and the core. If my muscles were used to the weight machines, they are going to be doing some very new stuff. I’m going to stick with the bands for a week or so until I feel like I’ve learned them, then I’ll start mixing weights back in.

It is a fantastic spring day in the Bluiegrass. I came home last night and did some cleanup in the yard, then got out the old hand clippers and gave the hedges a haircut first thing this morning. Its the first time I’ve done any real yard work since I started going to the gym. I could feel a real difference in my strength and endurance. Nice to be able to do something around the yard and not wind up gasping for air.

All in all, a good day for the Fat Man.

Peace, and happy Passover.
Pennsy