Posted by Marc Walter as general at 5:57 AM MST
May 15th, 2012
The Secret IS…..
May 14th, 2012
May 13th, 2012
Förster, Allar Take Out the Tour de Grove | podiuminsight.com
Förster, Allar Take Out the Tour de Grove
Posted on 12. May, 2012 by pressrelease in race, releases
Day two of the Missouri Professional Cycling Series saw top class fields contest the most recent round of the USA Crits on the streets of the Grove neighborhood in St. Louis, MO. With 150 riders in the men’s race and over 50 racers in the women’s field, all the top NRC teams were represented as perfect weather greeted the fields for an afternoon of full tilt crit racing.
via Förster, Allar Take Out the Tour de Grove | podiuminsight.com.
I did the masters and the 2,3′s races. The masters race wasn’t much slower than the 2,3′s, at 26.3 mph for 45 minutes. The 2,3′s averaged 27 mph. I’m getting some good speed work but mostly strength and power in the left leg. It’s really going through a transition for the better.
More power to you.
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general at 6:13 AM MST
May 12th, 2012
University City Loop Races
Came down to St. Louis for the Tour de Grove this weekend. Last night I did the 2,3′ race. Overall, went really well. I wasn’t in a problem spot all night. Just sailing along in the group.
After the races, I plopped myself down on the bleachers and hung with the locals. The guys behind me were funny as hell. Machismo but in a good clean way. They got educated in cycling and so did the ladies that sat next to me. Glad I could relate to them the finer points of bike racing. I got a little educated on St. Lou, also.
Well, today is the races at the Grove. Another cool neighborhood area of St. Louis. Again, the races will be focused around the night life area. The crowds love it.
More power to you.
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general at 6:15 AM MST
May 10th, 2012
Montana Cafe
The simple life: why i live in Lincoln, Ne., why I’m a scientist, why I ride a bike, why I live within my means, why I’m me………. I’ve been listening this song since the 80′s. It’s the essesence of what I believe.
Posted by Marc Walter as general at 7:12 AM MST
May 9th, 2012
Wed Nite Worlds
Really tired, sleepy and sore today. I didn’t get much sleep last night, 5 hrs, and that isn’t good for me. I need at least 7 hrs or I don’t recover well.
The TT last night, 25 miles, really did me in. It was kind of late by the time I got supper in me. Plus, it’s the first time trial of that distance this year. Then adding in the weight workout I did over lunch on Tuesday I was really tired.
Here is the data for Wed Nite Worlds. A little shorter than most Wednesdays. I’m trying to decrease the volume and up the intensity. My future is filled with criteriums of no more than an hour. Two hours is the most, that needs to be done, to train for criteriums.
More power to you.
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general at 6:54 PM MST
Time Trialing Muscles
For upper body stabilization and power transfer work on these muscles.
Erector Spinae Weakness
Increased risk of lower back injury occur during lumbar spine extension or stabilization activities. Back extension exercises involving complete lumbar spine range of motion have demonstrated primarily excellent or good results for those with chronic lower back pain. Excellent or good results by diagnosis: 76% Mechanical / Strain, 72% Degenerative, 78% Disc Syndrome, 75% Spondylo. In contrast, McGill condemns the use of isolated lumbar spine exercise apparatuses and argues erector spinae endurance is more important than strength. See Low Back Debate.
- Examples of affected exercises
- Example preventative / corrective exercises:
- Back Extension (novice)
- Cable Row (with spinal articulation) (novice to intermediate)
- Stiff Leg Deadlift (advanced)
Abdominal Weakness
Increased risk of lower back injury can occur during hip flexion, extension, stabilization and back extension activities. Erector Spinae muscles can hyperextend lower back more than usual if abdominal muscles are weak. The abdominal muscles tilt the pelvis forward, improving the mechanical positioning of the Erector Spinae, specifically when the lumbar spine becomes straight. When abdominal strength/endurance is not adequate to counter the pull of the antagonist Erector Spinae under load, these low back muscles are put at a mechanical disadvantage (active insufficiency) further placing additional stresses on these very same lower back muscles. Iliopsoas can pull on the spine during hip flexor activities if the abdominal muscles are weak. Risk is compounded when abdominal weakness is combined with hip flexor inflexibility.
- Examples of affected exercises:
- Squat
- Deadlifts
- Military Press (standing)
- Lying Leg Raise (full extension): hands may be placed under lower portion of glutes to decrease tilt of pelvis and subsequent hyperextension of spine.
Example preventative / corrective exercise:
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general at 11:01 AM MST
May 8th, 2012
Crit Racing
That’s all I see in my future. Going to head down to St. Louis this coming weekend for the Tour de Grove. I might double up every day and do Masters and cat. 2/3′s just to beat my leg into submission. It seems to be able to handle it lately. Actually, pushing it harder now seems to be making big improvements on the strength. Even if I pull the plug on the 2,3′s race it’s well worth it. Some people go pay to go to cycling camps ect…. I would much rather use my money on racing when possible.
This past weekend, in Iowa City, there’s a fairly good size uphill. The previous years my knee just felt like is was giving out. By giving out, I mean buckling under the pressure. This year I didn’t have that sensation. I still played it conservatively during the race up that hill. I don’t want to ruin what I’ve gained. A few times I hit the bottom of the hill in a bigger gear than normal and shifted once towards the top to keep the rpm’s up. Very smooth and rhythmic. It felt really good to be able to do that again.
Once last point about the crit, the downhill is a screamer. A little rough through the entrance, apex and coming out. My rear skipped once. I’m such a light weight that can happen. Using sewups here is a good idea for just this reason. In warm ups I hit 38 mph. During the race it was 32 mph with others leading through the corner. I should got out front a few times. I think 40 mph might of had everyone on the edge.
More power to you.
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general at 7:23 AM MST
May 6th, 2012
Back to the Gym
I’ve gone back to the gym starting this past week hitting it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I had quit going about 2 month ago. At Joe Martin Memorial Stage Race, last weekend, I noticed that my left leg just isn’t quite as strong as the right. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it’s just been an ongoing thing since I broke my kneecap in September of 2009. Below you’ll notice some information and links from ExRx.net . My go to site when I want to understand fitness movements and exercises.
What I’ve noticed, in the gym, is that my left hamstring is still a bit weaker than the right. I struggle to get 6 sets 6 reps with 95lbs with the left leg. The right leg no problem. I do these one leg at a time, instead of using two legs, so I isolated and not favor my right leg. ( scroll down for the rest of the article. Dang, I can’t figure out why there’s this white space )
Hamstrings Weakness
|
Examples of affected exercises:
I have an easier go, this time around, when using the leg press.
Knee Stability
Closed-chain exercises like leg presses and squats can improve knee stability. The stresses placed upon the joints and muscles during closed- chained movements are more functional and offer more natural stresses on the body as compared to open-chain exercises like leg extensions. Also see Hamstring Weakness.
- Peterson, J.A, Bryant, C.X., Understanding Closed Chained Exercise, The Fitness Handbook, 2, 125-130, 1995.
- The quadriceps also seem to have a lot of atrophy. I’ve been using the leg extension just like the hamstring curl that I described above. The left quad has gotten stronger. I’m able to do 95lbs fairly easier than a couple months ago. Easier but not fast. First I’ll work on getting it stronger. Than I’ll work on explosiveness.
Vastus Medialis Weakness
- Increased risk of knee injury (chondromalacia) occurs during knee extension activities. The patella becomes laterally displaced with the pull of the vastus lateralis. This patella tracking problem can produce wear on the inferior patellar surface. Greater pain is usually experienced during leg extension activities in which the knee is a greater than a 20 to 30 degree angle. Avoiding full range of motion (i.e. not locking out) during Quadricep exercise may not allow the Vastus Medialis to be fully strengthened since it is more fully activated at these final degrees of knee extension.
- Examples of affected exercises:
- Example preventative / corrective exercises:
- Single Leg Extensions (last 20 degrees of extension)
- Leg Press (last 20 degrees of extension)
- Also, I’m going to do the upper body workouts again. Mostly focusing on the core. From the arms, down the trunk, to the legs it all interconnects. So I better keep at the upper body to help the lower body. It’s a simple routine but effective and efficient. One push, one pull, ab crunches with resistance and lower back extensions with resistance.
- I am still seeing improvement. The last go around, in the weight room, had me concerned that I wasn’t going to get any better. That weakness and hobbling would be the norm. That riding a bike would keep on being painful. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. It’s going to take a lot of time as going on 3 years has shown.
- More power to you.
- Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general, Personal Life, power, Who am I at 7:24 AM MST
May 5th, 2012
Scientific Research Literature Key
The lighter, funnier side of science. It’s an ever changing field of study and that’s good. If everyone was like me I would get a lot more done. Then again, if everyone was like me how could I be so questionable and contrary.
What he said What he meant:
It has long been known that… I haven’t bothered to look up the original reference but….
Of great theoretical and practical importance… Interesting to me.
While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions… The experiment didn’t work out, but I figured I could at least get a publication out of it.
The operant conditioning technique was chosen to study the problem… The fellow in the next lab already had the equipment set up.
Three of the Ss were chosen for detailed study… The results on the others didn’t make sense.
Typical results are shown… The best results are shown…
Agreement with the predicted curve is:
Excellent…Fair
Good…Poor
Satisfactory…Doubtful
Fair…Imaginary
It is suggested that…I think
It is believed that…I think
It may be that…I think.
It is generally believed that… A couple of other guys think so too.
It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding… I don’t understand it.
Unfortunately, a quantitative theory to account for these results has not been formulated… I can’t think of one and neither has anyone else.
Correct within an order of magnitude… Wrong.
Thanks are due to Joe Glotz for assistance with the experiments and to John Doe for valuable discussion. Glotz did the work and Doe explained what it meant.
via Scientific Research Literature Key.
More power to you.
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as general, power, Who am I at 7:53 AM MST