January Fitness Fun

January Fitness Fun

First a few training tips:

• Incorporate some swim band work into your strength routine. It is not an aerobic substitute for swim-training but it will help with technique and swim strength. You can get your aerobic fitness from the bike and the run. This is a great opportunity to properly pattern your swim, to work on leading with the hand, to keep your elbow up and finishing your stroke. Here is a video with some band work drills – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IlPCOvQftQ&t=4s
• The biggest challenge with no swimming is the absence of whole-body mobility that we gain from the propelling our bodies through the water. You may feel stiff as you increase your cycling, running and strength routines. I suggest an increase of targeted stretching and mobility routines. The ROM Coach App (Range of Motion) is the best option I have found and it is a free download. The videos are well-explained and the routines are short and manageable.
• Find alternative aerobic forms of exercise to supplement your bike and run routines. Some great options include snowshoeing, cross country skiing and the indoor rowing machine.
• Aim to get outside each day and absorb as much Vitamin D as possible. Vitamin D is a key component of a healthy immune system. And exercise is the best thing you can do for your mind. Better yet, aim to exercise with a friend, safely distanced, and engage in stimulating conversation.

Here are a few indoor workouts to spice up your routine:

Bike Trainer Workout

 15 min loosen warming up to about 70% of max HR (aerobic);

12 min as:

2 x 30 sec strong – 30 sec easy;

2 x 40 sec strong – 40 sec easy;

2 x 50 sec strong – 50 sec easy;

2 x 60 sec strong – 60 sec easy;

That is 12 min – hold the same watts for the whole set (or higher as you warm up);

then ride 8 min steady increasing gear/watts/effort every 1 min for 4 min then repeat (back to where you started) for another 4 min continuous);

5 min easy; (40)

Warm down 10 min or repeat that 12 min set at a higher wattage and repeat the 8 min build and then warm down 10 min.

**use the first 12 min set as further warm up – getting HR up and legs ready for 8 min of threshold work;

**8 min block should hover around your threshold

**hard efforts are relative to the rest given – so more rest allows for harder effort

**10 min steady is similar to race effort

Treadmill Run with Strength Option – 40-60 min total

The best way to tackle the treadmill is to think of it as your bike trainer – it can be more focused than an outdoor run especially in the winter when your footing is compromised but it is hard to hold pace on a treadmill since it requires huge focus and discipline. So, let’s divide your run into 10 min blocks with the goal of hitting speeds that you would not reach outside (but this is not intervals – just steady running) think of this in 10 min blocks

warm up 10 minutes to best mph; start at easy mph and increase the mph every 1 minute – the TM will trick you into thinking that you are running as fast as you can but when you nudge up the mph, you realize that you can actually handle it pretty well – so go for it and nudge up the mph every 1 min as you warm up;

1 min easy;

then 2-4 x 10 min steady blocks (depending on how long you are running for) – each building to best mph but then hovering around that mph and dipping above and below;

1-2 min easy in-between;

easy run to finish your run feeling invigorated and so proud of yourself for injecting some quality into your 40-60 min run

**aim to make each 10 min block a bit stronger – that is, when you get to your best mph (let’s say that is 7.5 mph) then hover around there so 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 etc .. see what you can do – this is like a 20-40 min tempo with little rests in between

**incorporate strength into your run workout as follows for a fun, efficient, strength building workout:

warm up 10 minutes to best mph; start at easy mph and increase the mph every 1 minute;

1 min easy as you like;

10 min steady blocks (depending on how long you are running for) – each building to best mph but then hovering around that mph and dipping above and below;

Jump off the TM and do a mini strength circuit such as:

20 Kettle Bell Swings

10 jump squats

10 push ups

8 lunges left leg then 8 lunges right leg

10 renegade rows

Then jump back on the TM for another 10 min steady run;

Repeat 2-4 times alternating strength and run segments

easy run to finish your run feeling invigorated and so proud of yourself for injecting some variety and strength work into your 40-60 min run