Barriers broke through!

FINALLY!!!  My incline dumbbell presses were stagnant over the last few weeks and I felt like I hit a wall.  Finally today I broke that barrier and was able to get to 65 pounds for 8 reps.  Whew!!!  BIG sigh of relief!  On another note Ann has been kicking butt personal besting on everything from leg presses to Pec Deck and is now up to 45 pound incline dumbbell presses for 8 reps!

Chris

Squats!

Well, thought we'd post part of what we do on a "Leg Workout" day.  Some consider it the "King" of all leg exercises.  If you have a bad back or shot knees this may not be the best exercise for you and instead a seated leg press could suffice, although not as good.  

Does stretching before running prevent injury or improve performance?

Actually, it can slow you down!  Why?  "Static Stretching" is believed to elongate muscle fibers causing a neuromuscular inhibitory response according to Malachy McHugh, director of research for the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.  Static stretching triggers a protective counter response in the nervous system and this tightens the muscles to prevent from over stretching them.  In experiments, static stretching temporarily decreased strength by up to 30% and can last up to 30 minutes.  Also in large scale studies, static stretching did not reduce common injuries such as knee pain and Achilles Tendinitis.

There also has been debate as to what is (if any) the best way to warm up your muscles prior to running.  If you still feel the need to do a "warm up" prior to running, "dynamic stretching" may be your best option.  This type of movement incorporates a wide range of body movements and doesn't stress tissue fibers causing your nervous system to use the protective counter response spoke of prior.  Here are some examples of dynamic stretches.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-287--13442-0,00.html

Chris

Back to the gym after a Thanksgiving break!

Well, after taking a  few days off while visiting family out of town, Ann and I got back to the gym today.  All I can say is we are exhausted!  Ann bested on Squats with her third set of 8 at 195 pounds.  We did lunges, calf raises, leg curls, sumo squats and a reverse reps - close leg press where we started out with the heaviest set first and went easier with higher reps to burn out the quads  If that wasn't enough, we finished with 30 mins of cardio on the elliptical machine.

Chris

Leg day at the gym!

Ann and I did a heavy leg workout yesterday.  I was able to do a personal best on squats at 225 pounds at 9 reps and Ann kicked butt on the "close stance leg press" doing 3 sets maxing out at 470 pounds at 9 Reps!

Healthy Muffins!

What a week......

Hard week......

Picked up a virus someplace and have had a sore throat and just felt tired yet still pushed myself to go to the gym everyday this week.  Some positives were that a few of my lifts went up despite feeling run down.  I can only hope that once  feel 100% I can do even better.

Ann has also kicked some butt and did a personal best on Bench Press yesterday lifting 135 pounds 5 times on her third set!  Way to go Ann!

Chris

Macronutrients?

What are "Macronutrients" and how do they play a role in our daily diet?  Well, simply put, macronutrients are the nutrients that provide our calories and energy.  The three primary macronutrients we all know and consume daily are proteins, carbohydrates and fats.  Now, how much of each are a good or bad thing?  That depends?  What are your goals?  Do you need to lose weight?  Do you need to build muscle?  Are you training for a marathon and so on.  After determining how many calories you need to consume in a day based on your activity level (see "Calculate the calories you need per day" link to the right under links ) you need the then decide what your goals are and adjust your macronutrients accordingly.

As an example, We try to always keep out fat to below 20% of our daily intake throughout the year.  The fat we consume is what many consider "good fats" like what you get from flaxseed, almonds lean chicken, fish and turkey.  In the summer, when we are doing triathlons and running events, we tend to "up" our carbohydrates a little, especially the week prior to an event.  The Carbohydrates we eat are of the "complex type" like whole wheat pasta, wild rice, and whole oats in addition to the large quantities of vegetables and fruit we eat.  In the cooler months when we are in the gym more we tend to up our protein intake to help muscle building and recovery.  Greek yogurt, chicken, tuna, fat free cottage cheese and protein whey hakes are some of the better sources of protein that we consume a lot of.

Here's a sample of what I eat on a daily basis.

Meal one - 1/2 oats with flaxseed and 7 egg whites

Meal two - 1 cup fat free yogurt and 1/4 cup almonds

Meal three - 1/2 cup oats with 1 scoop of egg protein powder mixed in (equals about 6 to 7 egg whites)

Meal four - 1 can of tuna with 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/2 cup wild rice and 1 cup broccoli

Apple or banana during workout

Post workout Protein whey shake

Meal five - 5 oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup wild rice, spinach salad or 1 cup broccoli

Meal 6 - 1 cup yogurt with some blueberries

1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese right before bed

Now, not saying you should do what I do, but this is what is working for us (Ann is consuming similar food except just a little less of it to keep her calories lower ).  Play around and have fun with your meals and be sure to enter what you eat into fitfday.com or a similar type site to keep track of how much fat, carbs and protein you are consuming each day!

Chris

    

Crop walk for hunger today!

Chris and I are participating in the "Crop Walk for Hunger" today! Many of you know that we race, but most do not know that the majority of the events that we participate in, the entry fee goes towads charity.  The Crop Walk raises money for food around the world as well as a good portion going towards the local food pantry here in Vilas County.  Think of us as we walk 5 miles to help bring an end to hunger!

http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR/2011FallCROPHungerWalk/TR-Fall2011?fr_id=13137&pg=entry

Thanks
Ann

Update:  Had a great time!  Collected $145 for the walk and the weather turned out pretty nice, just a little windy.

Great Leg Workout

I felt good about my leg workout today.  I warmed up with a good sweat on the elliptical, and than kicked my butt on legs, climaxing with lifting 450lbs on the leg sled.  Impressed the young boys in the gym, which is always fun!

Ann

Feeling a little better after this last weekend.......

Well, Ann humored me this past weekend and went with me to watch a bodybuilding contest because I've been toying with the idea of maybe competing in one next Spring (April).  After leaving the event, I was quite overwhelmed as to the level of commitment these men and women go through to look incredible on stage and was doubting myself quite heavily if I could do one.  Well, things have settled a little, and the bottom line is I will do everything I can to get myself ready by mid April.  If it doesn't work out then the worst thing is I am in even better shape!  LOL!!!  I've been "Bulking" over the last few weeks by upping my calories to around 2800 and eating a lot more protein and mixing it up with more vegetables and "good" carbs like wild rice.  I have felt very good lately in the gym with my lifts and have seen some improvements.  I need to remember to get more cardio in though.  Here we go!

Chris

Went for a bike ride today!

With winter fast approaching, I wanted to get in a nice bike ride.  I didn't have too long since I had to work in the evening, so the weather was cooperating and I decided enough was enough....it was time to go!  Got on my trust Trek and headed out.  I figured I had about 3 or so hours so I wanted to go around 30 miles or so.  Headed north along the highway and then down some county roads.  Stopped a couple times to take in some water and decide where I wanted to go next.  10 miles turned into 20 which turned into 30 and before I knew it I was over 40 miles on the day (43 to be exact)!  I haven't been out on this long of a ride with this bike and I could tell I need to make some adjustments in the handlebars because by the time I got home, my lower back was hurting pretty bad.  Took a 30 min cat nap, downed some coffee and off to work I go!  Hopefully there will be a few more nice days before the snow flies to get some more rides in.  Only downside.....wasn't able to ride with Ann.

Chris

Welcome!

Here's a little into about ourselves!