John’s Ramblings

Life is full these days, to the point that I’ve not gotten back on the bicycle since the May Day Metric, 8 days ago now. It is still the goal of my training to be a strong cyclist, but between school work, working on the house, family, job, and working out, I do not have the luxury of hours and hours to pedal by ass around Western Washington. I do miss it, but there’s no room for it at the moment.

Consequently I am having to focus my efforts toward the greatest gain in the smallest timeframes.  Therefore I am doing the following in order to prepare for the three-day Century Ride of the Centuries coming up in just a couple of weeks:

Losing Lard: I’ve been losing weight by doing the Warp Speed Fat Loss diet (strict for the first 2 months, a little more relaxed that last month).  Result: I’m down 32 pounds on the scale from where I was at the end of January.

Gaining Strength: I am doing kettlebell workouts 2, 3, or 4 days a week.  Lots and lots of squats, deadlifts, and rows to add strength in my posterior chain (bicycle propulsion system) and to strengthen the back for long hours in the saddle. Result: I used to have to stop and stretch the back every 20-25 miles on long rides.  During the May Day Metric, I did not feel fatigued or tight in my back until mile 60 or so.

Functional Movement and stretching: My trainer Luka has been working with me to open up my hips, back, and hamstrings through repetitive stretching/warm up routines that target these joints.  Overly tight from years of biking and sedentary computer work, the tightness (especially of my hamstrings) has served to pull my knees out of alignment which has caused me much of my discomfort after long rides.  Result: Last year’s knee pain when spinning at high rpm’s or climbing is a thing of the past.

I’ve read in the past that cyclists do not generally do weight training because adding muscle will make them heavier on the bike.  Maybe, if you are a skinny biker-boy that could be true.  But if you are struggling with your inner-clydesdale then perhaps you need to look somewhere other than the bike in order to break free of what is holding you back.  I spent one year pedaling 5,000 miles, but I really can’t say that I was any more fit that year than the year I pedaled 2,000.  The bottom line is that I am far more fit now than that 5k year, and I have only ridden a few hundred (I’m not even keeping track… and I used to be such a numbers guy!).

Maybe you can find a way to do this on your own… I could not.  I needed to find a vehicle (kettlebells) and a trainer (Luka Hocevar & Andrea Chang) that I could connect with.  Are kettlebells for every cyclist?  Probably not.  Can they benefit a lot of recreational cyclists that need to improve their true “strength”, help them trim pounds, and make them stronger overall athletes? You bet your ass.  Personally, I’ve spent time in big box gyms off an on for years with mixed results.  If they work for you, great.  They no longer work for me, mostly because I tend to see “trainers” that are 1/4 trainer, 3/4 sales people that are more focused on selling you a package or checking out the babe on the lat machine.  You have to find that mind-body connection: it’s that knowledge that gives what you are doing with your body a purpose to where you see yourself going in your mind.  Find what works for you, but understand it may not be where you think it should be.  Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself.  Having a trainer costs me money, but these days my time is a more precious commodity.

Speaking of investments in me, here’s the latest additions to my kettlebell collection: 28kg and 32 kg’s of fun:

Tags: Cycling, exercise, hocevar performance, weight loss, workout

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