Lucky you! It is a heat and humidity inferno here! 90 degrees but only 52% humidity - still feels like 95. And I just finished my workout.
We landed at Dulles last night around 10 pm - long wait for luggage and then almost two hours to get home so it was 1 am by the time I got into bed. Our flight from Toronto was significantly delayed due to weather. Couldn’t drag my rear out of bed and then was busy doing errands and retrieving the dogs from the kennel.
45 minute run this afternoon - warm up then 10 second sprint or skip followed by 20 seconds of quick running every 5 minutes, then a 10 minute cooldown. Too hot and just didn’t have it in me but I gave it my best effort. I finally got a good look at Saturday’s run on Strava - I do not feel as bad about my performance as I did previously. At one point on the run there’s a 17.7% grade - and that’s not the only one!
I did spend a lot of money at Lulu. Mr. Sabaray was a big help! I was not one of the crazy people lined up the day before but managed to get two shirts printed with “inspiration”, a headband, some shorts and an awesome bag in this gorgeous blue print. The younger set were big fans of the pink print and what Mr. Sabaray termed the bumblebee look. If you watch the video, there’s a quick shot of five young women dressed in the yellow with tutus that were the bane of my existence on the course. Imagine them five abreast right in front of you stopping at will - yep! Sunday we headed over to Robson where I proceeded to spend even more money - a hotty hot skirt, more long hotty shorts, one of the sculpt tops, two pairs of pants…it was such a good deal!
Oh well, back to work tomorrow. It was fun while it lasted!
Sabaray, missed you by a couple of hours at Dulles last night! Our flight was late and arrived at 2:30 am. The Dunkin Donuts shop was already open and baking. Got home at 4. S2 was a good sport and picked us up at the airport.
Didn’t gain anything on vacation, which is a victory. But OMG, I have to get serious. Thought we would hike more, but DH doesn’t do more than two miles, and S1, who we were visiting, had strep and was feeling punked
S2 made 19 quarts of tomato sauce while we were gone and still has a bunch of tomatoes to process.
And in track, it’s where your torso is, not your hand, so that’s an even bigger disadvantage.
Plus, that looked very painful, as she did not really slide at all, just immediately ground to a halt when she hit the track. Ouch. She laid there for a while afterwards, and I thought she might have been hurt. I was looking for road rash, but couldn’t really tell on the TV, the track is not exactly smooth or slippery.
First time I saw it I thought she tripped and lunged to make it over the line.
I’d be surprised if diving became popular in track, too much chance of injury.
Just stumbled on an interesting article on Ketosis and Ketogenic diets. Ignore the promotional stuff at the end. The article’s concepts are sound. Bottom line: can have some health benefits for those with certain medical conditions but of no real value for weight loss or athletic performance.
Countingdown and sabaray you were both very near me when you were at Dulles but I was was fast asleep!
We are heading to Illinois to see family on Friday. The temperature highs are supposed to be in the 70’s! Hooray! This should really help me get back on track as I plan to do a lot of walking and maybe start running when I am there.
I posted this on the Rio thread. This is from the RunningAhead thread where people are actually pretty knowledgeable about track. (all the below is the quote- there was some outrage about the dive…)
"… but the purpose of defining the torso as the part of the body beginning below the neck helps to eliminate subjective finishes like being lucky and having your foot farther out in front of you than your competitor, or being in stance phase at the line with your legs under you while your competitor’s body is behind you but their foot is out front, or a lucky hand flail, or reviewing footage to determine whose hips are positioned where…or whether it was an unintentional fall versus an intentional dive.
Bmart dove to make the team in the 1500.
Prandini dove to make the team in 200 (nipping Felix, fool me once…).
American Neville dove for bronze in Bejing in the 400…where was the outrage?
Brazilian Oliveira (sp?) just dove to qual for the semis in the 110H.
I think the rule is well known to competitive track athletes. Honestly, I don’t understand the social media outrage (or at least criticism of Miller) because, from my perspective, it is fair and legal and has a strong precedent…and is sometimes unavoidable. I’ve done it, I’ve seen plenty of high school and college races with diving/falling as well. That said, it’s still not common because it hurts and the benefits are questionable. Runners dive and LOSE their place by a fraction of a second, too. I get that you don’t like it, but I’m not sure what other option could be used to remove confusion as to who crossed the line first."
Putting aside any questions of “precedent” or “rules”, it seems to me that if the essence of competitive running is to be the first one to get from point A to point B using your legs for propulsion, then diving at the end to edge out an opponent is fair game. Kind of the same as two cyclists sprinting at the end of a race, wheel to wheel, and one of them lunges the bike out in front of their body to cross the line first. Not always effective, and in the case of a runner certainly more painful , but nonetheless a legitimate tactic.
Since I’m the one here on CC who raised the fuss over the dive, I have appreciated getting educated on what is “legal” and now pointed out to be someone common, the diving. However, as you noted MOWC, “the rule is well known to competitive track athletes” - but not the common Olympics/home on the couch watcher. That is where I think social media took off - people like me x 1 million who just saw it as a bit of a “cheat” - you run the race on your feet, the feet should win it! (the common way to think).
Oh yes, I didn’t mean to insinuate that it was your verbatim statement! It’s all good!!!
Clearly this wasn’t the first dive in an important race. The USA athlete could have made the decision to dive as well. Do you think it was a snap decision or would that be part of the game plan if necessary?
I think people are confused by the speedskating finish rules (first skate to cross wins)! In running, it is not the first shoe to cross wins even though the legs do the bulk of the work!
The only problem with the baseball diving comparison is that the distance from home to first base is 90 feet (30 yards). That’s the point where you are reaching top end speed. So I could see why diving wouldn’t make sense. You start to lose top end speed at 70 meters. You are nowhere near top end speed at the end of a 400 meter so in some instances it could be very advantageous. I would have no problem losing some skin at the finish for an Olympic Gild Medal!
@VaBluebird, your thread and question about machines appears to have been deleted. Here’s the response I was about to post:
Here’s my take on resistance training machines. As a general matter, the concept of a “circuit” of machines, each designed to hit a specific body part, was borne out of the desire to provide a safe modality for weight training to a large segment of the population untutored in the mechanics and techniques of safe free weight usage and intimidated by the notion of needing to lug bars and plates around. The development of machines took weight lifting out of the confines of “old school” gyms serving body builders, power lifters, Olympic lifters and other “serious weight lifters” and brought it into facilities more appealing to those primarily interested in the general fitness benefits of resistance training. In this regard, weight machines have played a huge role in the growth of the fitness industry and popularizing resistance training for the general public. I would characterize the pros and cons of machines as follows (note that these comments are primarily directed to selectorized weight stack machines and not specialized plate loaded machines such as hack squat and leg press machines that have always had a role in “traditional” weight lifting).
Pros:
Ease of use. No weights and bars to handle. Adjust seat height or other body dimension adjustments, stick the pin in the stack to select the weight, and off you go.
Safe. No weights to drop. Your body is supported which in theory helps you to maintain good form and avoid injuries.
No need to have at your finger tips an extensive library or working knowledge of a load of exercises. Each machine is a single exercise and if you do a circuit of all the machines, you generally will hit all of your body parts.
Cons: (these apply in general although there are some newer machines that attempt to address these shortfalls)
Machines have a limited range of adjustability to accommodate differences in body size and limb lengths.
Most machines limit you to a single plane of motion which often is not the way your body moves in real world sports, recreational and daily life activities.
Most machines hit only the primary muscles involved in a movement and do not engage secodary muscles including those that stabilize a joint as you move a body segment.
Most machines involve single joint movements and not compound movements which build functional strength.
Most machines do not require you to engage your core (which is more than just your abs) during exercise movements to promote functional core support and pelvic stability needed to maintain lumbar back health.
Machines do not promote strengthening your posterior chain and anterior chain in an integrated manner that promotes postural alignment, stability and mobility.
Because you are seated in a machine and engaging a limited number of muscles at a time, machines generally will not provide the same calorie burn as free weights.
It is for these reasons that there has been a real trend back towards free weights and body weight exercises designed to create real world strength and mobility needed for functional movement. All of the “cons” associated with machines do not exist with free weights and body weight functional movement training and the converse of each is true. There is a growing recognition that compound movement based fitness and strength has far greater benefits, particularly for an aging population, than sitting in a machine moving one body segment at a time in an artificial way that usually does not track the way our bodies move in the real world.
If you have specific questions about comparing and contrasting a particular machine based exercise with the free weight or body weight version, I’ll be glad to address that.
@VaBluebird, it got too late to type more last night, so to complete my response:
In working with clients, I do not use machines. Instead, I use barbells, Dumbbells, TRX suspension training and body weight exercises (which can include the use of props such as parallettes, stability balls and step benches) the selection of which depends on their fitness levels, goals and interests. In my own workouts, I do not use machines unless I am traveling and the facilities available to me only have machines to offer for external resistance. The only exceptions are adjustable height pulley machines and assisted pull-up/dip machines. Pulley machines have great versatility and offer many of the same benefits as free weights - independent arm action, free range of motion, engagement of secondary control muscles to stabilize joints, engagement of core to stabilize lumbar spine and pelvis. Assisted pull-up/dip machines are great for clients who are not yet strong enough to do body weight pullups and dips. It’s amazing how comprehensive a workout you can get with just Dumbbells and body weight movements. You can get a crushing, killer strength training workout that includes mobility and movement without once sitting on a machine. The fittest people I know don’t go near machines in their strength and resistance training workouts.
Parenthetically, the other major advantage to learning how to use free weight and body weight training is that you become more independent and self sufficient in your training. You no longer are locked into expensive gym memberships or access to machines. Virtually any where you go you can get a great workout. It doesn’t take much space to have some Dumbbells and a step bench at home. TRX can be used at home or packed the size of a small football for traveling. Common household furniture can be used as props for killer body weight workouts. And if you have the inclination and space to set up a small home free weight gym, the initial outlay of costs is relatively modest.
Michael, really helpful information as always. You’re so generous with your expertise - I personally really appreciate it! The studio I go to is offering a training class on TRX that I am considering - they want more instructors (which I wouldn’t want to do nor could I do) but they also recommend the class for those who just want to learn more.
Easy 5 miles this morning - incredible how easy the run felt when it was “only” 70 degrees and 94% humidity!
Let’s say you want to do shoulder presses to strengthen your shoulders and triceps. The options available to you are to sit in a shoulder press machine or do standing dumbbell shoulder presses.
In the machine, you are seated and your torso and back are supported by the seat back. Your range of motion is limited to just pressing the handles up in the line of motion dictated by the machine’s design. It’s simply a fixed up and down motion with both arms working in tandem and not independently. All that you are engaging are your medial deltoids and triceps. The rest of your body is just hanging out.
With standing dumbbell shoulder presses, you not only hit the medial deltoids and triceps but also must engage the control muscles surrounding your scapula and shoulders that keep your arms from drifting forward and back and towards and away from your head as you press the weight upward. You must engage your abs and glutes to stabilize your lumbar spine and pelvis. And you must anchor your feet into the floor using your hamstrings and quads to give you a solid stable base of support. Then let’s say you combine the shoulder press with a dumbbell squat. You now have a whole body exercise with all sorts of wonderful calorie burning and metabolic benefits.
The day after you work out, UPS delivers a 30 lb package that you want to pick up off the floor and put on a high shelf in your closet. Which way of doing shoulder presses has better served you in developing the strength and ability to move so you can easily do so without injury?
@MichaelNKat - the thread on exercise machines was deleted at the request of the OP, after other users encouraged her to keep the discussion in the exercise thread.
That really explains things in a way I can understand - thanks MK!
Hopefully the OP of the other thread will see and comment on the info MK has provided - and ask additional questions!
(it should be noted that while many of us post on this thread with our daily exercise excursions, I think for the most part we LOVE to chat about other d/e/w topics - way more interesting than some of our daily exercise logs!!!
, but nonetheless a legitimate tactic.