Bath Half and Winter Weights

[andygates]

Two questions for the training massive:

1) What do you think of the Bath half-marathon?  I need an early-season half, and Bath has a reputation and a seething crowd.  Goal is to be 1:55 ish, so if it's groovy for plodders but grim for elites, I can handle that ;)

2) Are you doing any strength work in the offseason?  I'd be interested in comparing programmes, especially as a tri-useful core-and-upper-body approach is a tad different from my usual "mongo pick up! mongo drop! clank! mongo happy!" plan. 

Comments

[skean.livejournal.com]

1) Don't know very much about Bath half. I know about 5 people who've done it and all seem to have really enjoyed it. Good atmosphere. Just thinking topographically, I don't imagine that it can be as flat and fast as Bristol, so elites may not be as fond of it.

2) I'm spending a fair amount of time on weights at the moment, probably more than anything else. Its easier for me to fit it around work than a long run or bike, and it gets rid of the belly better than anything else for me. I started hitting it again coz I couldn't bike for a while, and its become habitual now. As to what I'm doing, its not really Tri specific, but defintely focuses on upper body:

3x30 sit ups, interspersed with 3xplank for 1 min (count to 100 or 60 bananas)
3x8-10 lateral pull downs to throat inerspersed w. 3 x8-10 lateral pull downs as bicep curls
2x20 lower back raises (which I still find unbelievably hard)
3x8 pecs
3x8-10 abdominal crunches
3x8-10 chest incline
3x8-10 shoulder raises (free weight raised out laterally to shoulder height)
3x8-10 tricep pull downs interspersed with 3x8-10 bicep curls (using big upright frame thing)
3x8-10 bicep curls using bar bell
3x8-10 kneeling row

Weight wise, I'm trying to increase amounts in steps about every 3-5 weeks, depending on how frequently I go. I quite often do my first set at one weight, increase for next set, then drop back for the last set. Then go to higher/lower/higher, then equals, before starting it all again at next step up.

The general idea behind this was three fold:
1) Build shoulder muscle/tricep area up
2) Build core and lower back strength (weakness for me on the bike, especially over about 80km)
3) Vanity, especially for the belly/chest/biceps

I religiously drink a lot of water while doing it and have thick gloppy Powerbar protein drink straight after finishing. Only problem with that is it means I'm not hungry for an hour or two afterwards, which, as I generally train in the evenings from about 7-9, means I'm skipping a lot of evenings meals. Trying to substitute a big lunch instead.

Whats your program looking like Mongo?

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Weights are good 'cos it's getting cold and wet ;) Though for me the runs are the belly-beaters, and that's something I need to get tough with. I'm doing:

Clean & Jerk because it's a big whole-body explosive overhead move;
Ball Dumbbell Bench Press, both for convenience and the extra stability demands (tricky stuff!);
Some bicep curl or other;
Back Hyperextension (it's the best way to check the floor for dust-bunnies);
Gripper (this really is to address my kitten-weak grip which vexeth; I have some truly insane grippers);
Bent-over Barbell Row with a hold, for back/shoulders "pull" action goodness;
Ball Abdominal Crunch.

Rather like you, my goals are core and upper-body strength, with the upper-body stuff focusing on the power muscles for swimming and as a secondary, archery (wot is good fun); I'm using the clean-and-jerk so that I still have a fast, explosive whole-leg lift in there somewhere; I can't not work legs, it feels wrong. And like you, I sip water during and have a whey shake immediately after.

My vanity work is all about bodyfat and always will be (!).

We're hitting pretty similar areas, which is encouraging, though I'm looking at 3 x 10-14 rep sets except the crunches. I figure that will be a bit more applicable to high-repetition stuff; in theory I'm after repeated application of power and I'm not too worried about stimulating hypertrophy. The one I'm really missing is lats, which are a *sod* to do outside of a machine. Any ideas?

And what's a plank?

[skean.livejournal.com]

Lats: How about that kind of chin up, where you pull up but tilt forward so that the bar goes to the back of your neck? I reckon that must work lats even if I could do maybe 1 of them.

Plank is resting on your forearms, elbows and toes holding the body straight without drooping or jack knifing in the middle. Good for core stuff. My gym trainer (before the wedding) used to make me do it until I was groaning, then lean on my back for another 30 seconds while calling me names.

[arabis.livejournal.com]

So, what are the lower back raises?

[skean.livejournal.com]

Uses a frame at the gym. Its set at 45 degress, and you "lie" on it face down - it has a cushion that is across your upper thighs and a brace bar that goes across your calves. You then bend down, and return to a straight position. The trick is apparently not to over straigthen. I still find it disproportionatly hard though!

[andygates.livejournal.com]

The problem is the single rep, but I'll give it a try :)

Planky goodness. Ouch :)

[arabis.livejournal.com]

This is a plank - unless they do them differently in Switzerland. Good core conditioning.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Ay de mi, that turns up in the PS2 Eye Toy warmdown. It's evil. :)