On Friday night I finally succumbed to the sinus infection my wife has been suffering from for the past week. We both spent the weekend in bed which was surprisingly fun. We ate healthy food, slept when we wanted, read and studied Spanish. And I didn't train and climb on Saturday and there was no hike on Sunday. For the first time in my life I enjoyed doing nothing physical other than activities of daily living.
It always bothers me when people come into the gym sick. The benefits of exercising when ill are debatable and of course any possible benefit depends on what the person is suffering from and to what degree. Aside from personal considerations a gym is a community and as a member of a micro society it is irresponsible to put yourself and your contagion in an environment where other people are particularly susceptible to catching your bug. We share the same equipment, sweat and air space, which is often close, and people are breathing deeply.
It is not a sign of strength to show up sick. People have to make a living and ideally one should not go to work with a cold but often you haven't a choice. Attendance at the gym, however, is not mandatory. Sometimes it feels good to engage in a moderate workout when you feel crappy but you can do that at home. Stretching is great when you are sick: it activates the lymph system, it doesn't require a lot of space and chances are you don't do enough of it when you are healthy, so indulge yourself.
Doing nothing but resting and eating well is underrated. Your body is not going to lose strength if you don't work out for two or three days but it is certainly going to benefit from rest and you will likely come back to your routine sooner and with renewed vigor if you let yourself heal.
Here are some general guidelines when it comes to exercise and colds/flu symptoms:
Don't get sick - wash your hands often, exercise 30 minutes per day three to four days a week to boost your T-cell levels (frequent 90 minute workouts can lower them.)
If you have a fever above 101, have bronchial tightness, achy joints (symptoms below the neck) - don't exercise. If however you have sniffles and congestion (symptoms north of your neck) - exercise with caution (at home.)
Winter is coming which means we will spend more of our time in close quarters with our gym buddies and coworkers, so if you have a cold avoid the gym.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
You Are Here
David Byrne and the Talking Heads asked "How did we get here?" This is a good question for lifters to ask. Where did the weights and training techniques we use come from? With all activities we engage in and the beliefs we hold dear it is important to have a basic knowledge of history. One day while performing an arm curl I thought who dreamed up this apparatus and why the hell am I doing an arm curl? I had a vague understanding of weight training as a Victorian era hobby but I really didn't know more than that.
In the late 1800's strong men entertained audiences by lifting, pressing and squatting barbells, dumbbells, people and animals. Although there is evidence to suggest that people have been training with heavy objects for five thousand years, the standardization of weight lifting as we know it developed over the course of a hundred years from the mid to late 19th century to the 1970s. Different cultural preferences influenced the various lifts. North Americans liked dumbbells (which derive their name from the ancient Greeks who removed the clappers from bells so they could be hoisted without ringing), while Europeans preferred barbells and the Russians used kettlebells (or "kettle balls" as my wife likes to call them.)
Generally dumbbells are used to isolate specific muscle groups while bar bells use multiple muscle groups and kettle bells lend themselves to dynamic routines that move through several planes. Competitive lifting became standardized when agreements were reached between countries concerning specific lifts and the tools used to perform them. Whether you are discussing barbells or nuclear weapons, politics are pretty much the same. Organizations formed and folded, people switched allegiances, they talked trash and eventually through attrition and compromise barbells won out as Olympic lifts gained popularity in the early 20th century and continued to dominate as the preferred device in power lifting in the 1960s. The dumbbell and kettlebell continue to be used as an effective training device but you won't see them used in the Olympics.
Today all manner of tools are used in Crossfit and strong man competitions. We have come full circle, as history does, and we have arrived back to public displays of strength and prowess much like those found in the Victorian age.
It is interesting to know the past to understand why you are doing what you are doing. If you walked into a gym and a trainer told you to step into a machine (I know this is not too far from the truth) that you have never seen before would you do it without asking questions? Clients have looked at me like I solved the riddle of the Gordian knot when I suggested they bench press with dumb bells rather than the barbell because of a shoulder injury. We become so entrenched in the way we do things that we forget that there are options.
We are destined to repeat history but with an understanding of the past we can shape the future. There is fitness equipment waiting to be created that will improve your performance. And what happened to the Thigh-master, leg warmers and Richard Simmons?
They'll be back!
In the late 1800's strong men entertained audiences by lifting, pressing and squatting barbells, dumbbells, people and animals. Although there is evidence to suggest that people have been training with heavy objects for five thousand years, the standardization of weight lifting as we know it developed over the course of a hundred years from the mid to late 19th century to the 1970s. Different cultural preferences influenced the various lifts. North Americans liked dumbbells (which derive their name from the ancient Greeks who removed the clappers from bells so they could be hoisted without ringing), while Europeans preferred barbells and the Russians used kettlebells (or "kettle balls" as my wife likes to call them.)
Generally dumbbells are used to isolate specific muscle groups while bar bells use multiple muscle groups and kettle bells lend themselves to dynamic routines that move through several planes. Competitive lifting became standardized when agreements were reached between countries concerning specific lifts and the tools used to perform them. Whether you are discussing barbells or nuclear weapons, politics are pretty much the same. Organizations formed and folded, people switched allegiances, they talked trash and eventually through attrition and compromise barbells won out as Olympic lifts gained popularity in the early 20th century and continued to dominate as the preferred device in power lifting in the 1960s. The dumbbell and kettlebell continue to be used as an effective training device but you won't see them used in the Olympics.
Today all manner of tools are used in Crossfit and strong man competitions. We have come full circle, as history does, and we have arrived back to public displays of strength and prowess much like those found in the Victorian age.
It is interesting to know the past to understand why you are doing what you are doing. If you walked into a gym and a trainer told you to step into a machine (I know this is not too far from the truth) that you have never seen before would you do it without asking questions? Clients have looked at me like I solved the riddle of the Gordian knot when I suggested they bench press with dumb bells rather than the barbell because of a shoulder injury. We become so entrenched in the way we do things that we forget that there are options.
We are destined to repeat history but with an understanding of the past we can shape the future. There is fitness equipment waiting to be created that will improve your performance. And what happened to the Thigh-master, leg warmers and Richard Simmons?
They'll be back!
Thursday, September 11, 2014
S.O.S.
Last weekend I volunteered at S.O.S. The S.O.S. is the Survival of the Shawangunks Triathalon held in the Catskill mountains of New York.
The event consists of a 30 mile bike race, a 4.5 mile run to Lake Awosting, a 1.1 mile swim across the lake, a 5.5 mile run to Lake Minnewaska, a 0.5 mile swim across that lake, an 8 mile run through the Mohonk Preserve to the Mohonk Mountain House, a 0.5 mile swim across Lake Mohonk and then a 0.7 mile run to Smiley Tower which is all up hill. Wow! What an event.
I was stationed in a kayak on Lake Awosting in a line of twelve other kayaks and several scuba divers. My job was to keep swimmers from drifting off course and to assist in any way I could without moving them forward in the water. At this stage of the course many participants can suffer excruciating cramps and need to hold onto a boat for a minute to stretch a calf or a hamstring. The weather was beautiful (70 degrees with low humidity) and the water was warm; there wasn't much for me to do, so I sat back in my front row seat and watched as 300 swimmers passed fifteen feet from my kayak over the course of three hours.
Every swimmer was unique. Most methodically performed the crawl, but some cycled between the breast stroke and treading water in order to break-up the monotony. Some appeared to have gills as they rolled through their stroke siphoning air through a minute aperture they had created between their mouths and the undulating surface of the water. Others gasped with every other stroke and craned their necks often in an attempt to see the bright orange buoy located on the other side of the lake. Swimmers cut the water with their arms in a variety of ways that ranged from an elegant salute to the swatting of an insect. Some kicked forcefully while others moved quickly with a gentle rotation of the hips.
At first the sexes were indistinguishable. I knew the men would be the first to enter the water because an abundance of testosterone would give them the advantage in the preceding thirty mile bike race. But after half an hour I started to notice subtle differences in shape and intention. The athletes were like lemmings wearing goggles and caps and many wore similar swimming singlets. Several resembled aquatic mendicants with their floating bags containing the paraphernalia they would need for the following run. What set the women and men apart was how they turned their heads and breathed. But I was never really certain who was a man and who was a woman until the person exclaimed or asked a quick question.
It was strange because all the swimmers were determined in their pursuit of a similar goal but some slogged while others sailed. All had competed in either a half iron man or a full marathon below a certain qualifying time. These athletes were experienced and knew how to maintain a high level of performance over a long period of time to reach the finish line.
The benefits of endurance training have been questioned of late. Traveling long distances with an elevated heart rate (HR) might be deleterious to the heart and the arteries (especially if you don't rest enough between sessions). But there will always be a segment of the fitness community that lives to compete in these events. It is appealing to have a definite goal that requires not only athletic stamina but also emotional strength and determination to accomplish. These races are, after all, a microcosm of our all-too-short lives on planet Earth and who among us doesn't enjoy surviving an epic?
The event consists of a 30 mile bike race, a 4.5 mile run to Lake Awosting, a 1.1 mile swim across the lake, a 5.5 mile run to Lake Minnewaska, a 0.5 mile swim across that lake, an 8 mile run through the Mohonk Preserve to the Mohonk Mountain House, a 0.5 mile swim across Lake Mohonk and then a 0.7 mile run to Smiley Tower which is all up hill. Wow! What an event.
I was stationed in a kayak on Lake Awosting in a line of twelve other kayaks and several scuba divers. My job was to keep swimmers from drifting off course and to assist in any way I could without moving them forward in the water. At this stage of the course many participants can suffer excruciating cramps and need to hold onto a boat for a minute to stretch a calf or a hamstring. The weather was beautiful (70 degrees with low humidity) and the water was warm; there wasn't much for me to do, so I sat back in my front row seat and watched as 300 swimmers passed fifteen feet from my kayak over the course of three hours.
Every swimmer was unique. Most methodically performed the crawl, but some cycled between the breast stroke and treading water in order to break-up the monotony. Some appeared to have gills as they rolled through their stroke siphoning air through a minute aperture they had created between their mouths and the undulating surface of the water. Others gasped with every other stroke and craned their necks often in an attempt to see the bright orange buoy located on the other side of the lake. Swimmers cut the water with their arms in a variety of ways that ranged from an elegant salute to the swatting of an insect. Some kicked forcefully while others moved quickly with a gentle rotation of the hips.
At first the sexes were indistinguishable. I knew the men would be the first to enter the water because an abundance of testosterone would give them the advantage in the preceding thirty mile bike race. But after half an hour I started to notice subtle differences in shape and intention. The athletes were like lemmings wearing goggles and caps and many wore similar swimming singlets. Several resembled aquatic mendicants with their floating bags containing the paraphernalia they would need for the following run. What set the women and men apart was how they turned their heads and breathed. But I was never really certain who was a man and who was a woman until the person exclaimed or asked a quick question.
It was strange because all the swimmers were determined in their pursuit of a similar goal but some slogged while others sailed. All had competed in either a half iron man or a full marathon below a certain qualifying time. These athletes were experienced and knew how to maintain a high level of performance over a long period of time to reach the finish line.
The benefits of endurance training have been questioned of late. Traveling long distances with an elevated heart rate (HR) might be deleterious to the heart and the arteries (especially if you don't rest enough between sessions). But there will always be a segment of the fitness community that lives to compete in these events. It is appealing to have a definite goal that requires not only athletic stamina but also emotional strength and determination to accomplish. These races are, after all, a microcosm of our all-too-short lives on planet Earth and who among us doesn't enjoy surviving an epic?
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Seasonal Changes
Summer, as it is, will be with us for a few more weeks. In the north east we have not experienced the kind of debilitating heat and humidity that we encountered last year and fall is rapidly approaching. The phoebes have long fledged as the neon green of the canopy has faded. A change of season means a change in activity.
In cool weather I hike through the woods observing changes in terrain I haven't seen since the late winter of the previous year - a downed hickory, an ancient walnut standing dead riddled with cavities created by piliated woodpeckers and the ongoing progression of European barberry as it marches across the forest floor. This is the season of wood.
The smell of burning hard woods is ubiquitous in the Catskills as the temperatures fall and the days shorten. Felling, limbing, bucking and splitting wood are ritualistic events that everyone should try. Processing BTUs is an avocation that is as old as our connection with fire itself and it is great exercise.
Chain saws are dangerous requiring skill, experience, focus and safety equipment, so I will not discuss them in this blog (as much as I love to talk about my Stihl 390 Farm Boss and my little Echo) but in order to split wood you must procure it from a source and that requires a saw or a saw buck. I have never purchased wood because I am fortunate to live in an area forested by oak (red, white, chestnut and others), ash, maple, walnut, hickory and birch, so there is always wood to be had. Once the wood has been bucked the splitting begins.
This is an activity everyone can enjoy. Even if you can't split you can haul and stack but splitting is an intense workout that requires judgement, power, focus and accuracy. I have never played golf but I imagine there is some crossover of skills between these two endeavors (except the former saves you money). Mauls are cheap and most hard woods are satisfying to split (exception: all elms). Ash is the easiest. It sounds like glass is being cut when it splits and it smells clean and astringent - like witch hazel. Oak is heartier (burns longer and doesn't burn as hot as ash) and also has a distinctive sour and peppery scent that is instantly recognizable.
I am always seeking sensory experiences in my workouts and there is none better than chopping wood. If you like the Olympic lifts you will like splitting wood (think reverse snatch). Timing is crucial in firing the hips shoulders and arms to achieve the maximum force required to cleave a big log. And you must be aware of the size, age (is the wood green or has it been seasoned?), and type of wood you are addressing. You don't clobber every piece of wood, you look for checking or fissures in the grain that indicate a weakness. Once you assess the size, age and type of log you plan your attack. Target the check in the grain, set your stance, keep a tight core, take aim and let fly. There are few sounds more satisfying then the crack of wood on a cool day (unless it is the sound of your maul's ash handle splitting due to over-striking the log). Once you have broken the log take a minute to smell the inside of the wood and study its grain - this is one of life's simple pleasures that never loses its visceral appeal.
You will warm up quickly, so dress in comfortable layers, don safety glasses and a pair of work gloves and keep a glass of local fresh apple cider, beer or an oaky chardonnay close at hand because you will get thirsty.
This is the way exercise should be: outdoors, functional, thoughtful, aerobic, anaerobic, aesthetically pleasing, and fun. For many I am preaching to the choir but for the rest who have always wondered what it would be like - try it! Let me know if you have questions and if you like these posts please tell a friend. Thank you
In cool weather I hike through the woods observing changes in terrain I haven't seen since the late winter of the previous year - a downed hickory, an ancient walnut standing dead riddled with cavities created by piliated woodpeckers and the ongoing progression of European barberry as it marches across the forest floor. This is the season of wood.
The smell of burning hard woods is ubiquitous in the Catskills as the temperatures fall and the days shorten. Felling, limbing, bucking and splitting wood are ritualistic events that everyone should try. Processing BTUs is an avocation that is as old as our connection with fire itself and it is great exercise.
Chain saws are dangerous requiring skill, experience, focus and safety equipment, so I will not discuss them in this blog (as much as I love to talk about my Stihl 390 Farm Boss and my little Echo) but in order to split wood you must procure it from a source and that requires a saw or a saw buck. I have never purchased wood because I am fortunate to live in an area forested by oak (red, white, chestnut and others), ash, maple, walnut, hickory and birch, so there is always wood to be had. Once the wood has been bucked the splitting begins.
This is an activity everyone can enjoy. Even if you can't split you can haul and stack but splitting is an intense workout that requires judgement, power, focus and accuracy. I have never played golf but I imagine there is some crossover of skills between these two endeavors (except the former saves you money). Mauls are cheap and most hard woods are satisfying to split (exception: all elms). Ash is the easiest. It sounds like glass is being cut when it splits and it smells clean and astringent - like witch hazel. Oak is heartier (burns longer and doesn't burn as hot as ash) and also has a distinctive sour and peppery scent that is instantly recognizable.
I am always seeking sensory experiences in my workouts and there is none better than chopping wood. If you like the Olympic lifts you will like splitting wood (think reverse snatch). Timing is crucial in firing the hips shoulders and arms to achieve the maximum force required to cleave a big log. And you must be aware of the size, age (is the wood green or has it been seasoned?), and type of wood you are addressing. You don't clobber every piece of wood, you look for checking or fissures in the grain that indicate a weakness. Once you assess the size, age and type of log you plan your attack. Target the check in the grain, set your stance, keep a tight core, take aim and let fly. There are few sounds more satisfying then the crack of wood on a cool day (unless it is the sound of your maul's ash handle splitting due to over-striking the log). Once you have broken the log take a minute to smell the inside of the wood and study its grain - this is one of life's simple pleasures that never loses its visceral appeal.
You will warm up quickly, so dress in comfortable layers, don safety glasses and a pair of work gloves and keep a glass of local fresh apple cider, beer or an oaky chardonnay close at hand because you will get thirsty.
This is the way exercise should be: outdoors, functional, thoughtful, aerobic, anaerobic, aesthetically pleasing, and fun. For many I am preaching to the choir but for the rest who have always wondered what it would be like - try it! Let me know if you have questions and if you like these posts please tell a friend. Thank you
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