Sharla's Log

Right well offer stands if you want to chip into the conversation (which so far I'm having exclusively with myself :p) later.

So I've read that endurance training increases capillarization and I just assumed I'd find sprints were better for increasing stroke volume. Alas I found the opposite:

Endurance rather than sprint running training increases left ventricular wall thickness in female athletes

JournalEuropean Journal of Applied Physiology

Tomas Venckunas1 http://www.springerlink.com/images/contact.gif, Rasa Raugaliene1, 3, Birute Mazutaitiene2 and Sonata Ramoskeviciute1
(1) Department of Applied Physiology and Sports Medicine, Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education, Sporto str. 6, 44221 Kaunas, Lithuania(2) Department of Languages, Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education, Sporto str. 6, 44221 Kaunas, Lithuania(3) Institute of Cardiology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Sukileliu ave. 17, Kaunas, Lithuania
Accepted: 28 September 2007 Published online: 17 October 2007
Abstract Competitive athletics is often associated with moderate left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. The aim of this study was to shed more light on the extent and type of cardiac hypertrophic response to different athletic conditioning in females. Standard two-dimensional M-mode and Doppler echocardiography was performed at rest in Caucasian female sprinters (n = 10) and long-distance runners (n = 10) of similar age (range 16–34 years), training experience (5–18 years) and competitive level, and in age-matched healthy female sedentary controls (n = 10). No differences in echocardiographic parameters were detected between female sprinters and sedentary controls (p > 0.05). Interventricular septum and LV wall (p < 0.05) were thicker, and LV mass was greater (p < 0.01) in long-distance runners as compared with sprinters or sedentary controls. Absolute LV diameter was not increased in long-distance runners (p > 0.05), though relative LV diameter was higher in long-distance runners as compared to sprinters (p < 0.05). As compared with controls, relative wall thickness (the sum of LV wall thickness and interventricular septum thickness divided by LV diameter) was higher (p = 0.004) in long-distance runners. Neither systolic nor diastolic LV parameters were different among the groups (p > 0.05). In conclusion, sprint running training has not been found to induce alterations in cardiac morphology or function at rest in female athletes. Cardiac mass in female long-distance runners is higher mainly due to myocardial wall thickening, while integral myocardial function at rest is not affected as a consequence of either this hypertrophy or sprint training.

As expected, the heart rate and the double product were
lower in endurance runners, which was probably due to
altered cardiac autonomic regulation and larger stroke
volume.

So does this mean that capillarization and stroke volume are most significantly increased by endurance training then to increase VO2 max endurance training is the only way to go?

Unless there is another component of VO2 max I haven't taken into account people? :confused:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Um yeah my whole abstaining from the forum thing didn't last long! :-\

I think i'm going to stick to the Ask The Trainer Board for a while though and mostly on weekends.

The reason I'm posting is I'm coming up with some new (to me at least) ideas / understanding of exercise physiology and i'm keen to hear opinions from others who are into this side of things like Scrap and Salty.

1) I happened to read that women tend to increase their VO2 max more by increasing oxygen uptake capacity in their muscles by capillarization more so than men. Apparently men will increase their heart stroke volume more than women. That's over time as a result of training i think.

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I too spend too much time on the forums, but it's just great in this one. I haven't done much comparison between men and women's training, but I can understand how this would be different especially from an evolution standpoint.

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Originally Posted by Sharla

2) Acidity in the blood is a consequence of exercise and i think if i understand it correctly it will signal the process of capillarization (forming new capillaries).

3) Apprently a study with swimmers having a dose of bicarbonate soda pre-workout increased their performance by decreasing blood acidity. I think this is for one workout - sort of like taking glucose right efore a workout - not going to improve your ability to mobilize energy stores in training probably but great for a good one off performance.

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The bicarb soda works by resisting a drop in pH of the muscles during activies where your workload exceeds that of your lactate threshold (where protons begin accumulating in the muscles).

In actual fact training your lactate threshold can be much more productive than your VO2 max for both endurance events and boxing.

An excellent article on that is here, have a read and you will understand it a lot better Report on blood lactate 1

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Originally Posted by Sharla

4) Apparently stroke volume is limited when tested while cycling due to the way blood can be pooled in the legs. Apparently trained cyclists don't have this problem though and will show the same exercise induced increase in stroke volume during a workout as they will over activities

5) The supine position as in swimming (and Scraps thing :o) does not limit heart stroke volume at all.

6) Women begin to outperform men in ultra marathon endurance efforts beyond the 66 km running mark.. This is attributed to lipid metabolism but I'm also wondering if since capillarization is triggered more so by endurance training this has something to do with it.

Another observation was that women do not over-heat as much in these long events - perhaps because our heart is not generating as much heat due to increased heart muscle action associated with increased heart stroke volume.

I imagine capillaries existing in muscles which are able to allow more blow flow and therefore O2 reaching the muscles is a fairly passive mechanism not producing any real heat or using as much energy as increasing heart stroke volume. Perhaps part of the reason in ultra long running (higher heart rate than other sports) distances this mechanism of O2 uptake could become increasingly more important.

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I could not imagine running 42km's let along 66km's that is just crazy, but another thing which could account for this is the higher water percentage that women hold in their bodies. I'm sure this would start to play an important role in an event of such duration as it would be tough to remain adequately hydrated in those circumstances. This would also explain a few of the observations;

• Increased heart rate
• Increased body temperature
• Extreme fatigue
• etc.

But you do raise valid points, I haven't looked too much into capillaries at all and stroke volume of the heart.

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Originally Posted by Sharla

7) I never felt like endurance training decreased my power unless I was trying to make weight and not getting enough protein or suffering from te effect of impact. I would still make strength gains with resistance training and adequate nutrition. Apart from that i felt stronger for it .... coincidence or not?

So I'm trying to nut out basically if I should be tayloring my workouts to increase VO2 max in a couple of different ways in different workouts.

For example using either acidic or basic food/drink intake pre-workout and workout methods designed specifically to target or not target capillarization.

As a female capillarization will likely yield better results more easily for me. I'd definately aim to get the most out of that in some workouts.

Perhaps I should also try to design some sessions that will target my stroke volume more specifically since that is a weak point probably not well trained especially by me with my love of endurance training.

Ok enough blabbing from me! Thoughts, suggestions? Do you think it's possible to target these separately to a significant degree?

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One thing you have to be careful with endurance training is the transition of fast twitch to slow twitch fibers. After long events scientists discovered that fast twitch fibers had decreased in percentage, while slow twitch had stayed the same. The found that these missing fibers had turned into intermediate fibers which had characteristics of both, but if this training was regular of a long period of time (years) they would become slow twitch fibers, where they could never come back from there. I don't know if this would apply to you, but I found it pretty interesting. Especially for boxers who are addament about the jog every morning.

I read an article the other day about how one ex olympic gold medal winner in swimming I think trained his athetes over long duration as part of their speed training. His theory was that as slow twitch fibers fatigue more and more fast twitch fibers were recruited to do the work. Sorry my mates have all just arrived and telling me to get my ass off the computer. So I'll hopefully add more to this tomorrow, but interesting questions Sharla ;D

Sharla Bicabinated Soda, dont go anywhere near it while training. Salty that was a Superb post, the information given was well written and easy to understand. Lactic is the muscles freind, everything written by the guy makes absoloute sence good find. Top Man ;D

Sharla, if you can get hold of Biochemistry of Exercise vol V11 volume 21 you will enjoy, bicarbinated Soda stops the warning system through acid breakdown from working as it should and can overstrain the Heart its a NO NO.

Thanks Scrap and Salty,

Great input as always.

I found the bicarb soda info in a Women's Health mag so women everywhere in Australia are likely to be trying it - a bit scary to hear it's dangerous!

I'm actually really suprised the acidity of gastric juices in the gut doesn't nuetralize the bicarb before it reaches the bloodstream but I guess it is absorbed too quickly for that.

I was thinking that the cycling part makes sense. My mum's running improved when she began cycling and that is a common scenario I've heard in triathlon circles. Further capillarization occurs to allow a cyclist to operate at their maximum heart stroke volume. Maybe that serves to help running performance even though it's not induced by running?

There wouldn't really be any equivalent exercise for your arms though would there not without extreme discomfort from all your blood rushing to your head! Pity it would be great for boxing conditioning!

Anyway I had thought that especially for women who are unlikely to increase heart stroke volume any other way maybe endurance training would be an advantage even for boxing. Perhaps endurance swimming or a low impact endurance sport at least.

Reading about the conversion of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle fibres and knowing the capacity of heart stroke volume increase is fairly small I'm not so sure now. Damn! :-\

In general i think it might say something positive about increasing capillarization in the legs by cycling.

I think that must be how trained cyclists overcome the heart stroke volume limitation seen in non-cyclists are tested on stationary bikes.

My mum's running performance increased when she started cycling and that's quite common from what i've heard. I'd say it would be a good initial improvement but I'm not sure if you'd continue to improve for long.

Apparently guys have slightly bigger hearts than women (along with more hemoglobin, lower body fat percentages, more muscle etc etc :rolleyes:) so you'll have a larger stroke volume than me. :mad: ;) Pity it's so hard to target in training for an athlete trying to maintain fast twitch muscle fibres.

Thanks for the article Salty - i will definately study it :)

I'll look for that text you mentioned too Scrap - sounds like something that should be available at uni - good to know there are some perks for being a uni student! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Sharla Bicabinated Soda, dont go anywhere near it while training. Salty that was a Superb post, the information given was well written and easy to understand. Lactic is the muscles freind, everything written by the guy makes absoloute sence good find. Top Man ;D

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Thanks mate, I've being doing a lot of research lately regarding various things, glad it could come of some help. But yes Sharla if I were you I would stay away from the bicarb unless your going towards a gold medal otherwise the risk is too great.

The link I posted has some great posts, soon hopefully I'll be posting salty's guide to boxing fitness, which I'll be testing myself for a few months. If anyone wants to follow the training plan I will be setting myself for after christmas let me, it's going to be a good adventure ;D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Thanks Scrap and Salty,

Great input as always.

I found the bicarb soda info in a Women's Health mag so women everywhere in Australia are likely to be trying it - a bit scary to hear it's dangerous!

I'm actually really suprised the acidity of gastric juices in the gut doesn't nuetralize the bicarb before it reaches the bloodstream but I guess it is absorbed too quickly for that.

I was thinking that the cycling part makes sense. My mum's running improved when she began cycling and that is a common scenario I've heard in triathlon circles. Further capillarization occurs to allow a cyclist to operate at their maximum heart stroke volume. Maybe that serves to help running performance even though it's not induced by running?

There wouldn't really be any equivalent exercise for your arms though would there not without extreme discomfort from all your blood rushing to your head! Pity it would be great for boxing conditioning!

Anyway I had thought that especially for women who are unlikely to increase heart stroke volume any other way maybe endurance training would be an advantage even for boxing. Perhaps endurance swimming or a low impact endurance sport at least.

Reading about the conversion of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle fibres and knowing the capacity of heart stroke volume increase is fairly small I'm not so sure now. Damn! :-\

In general i think it might say something positive about increasing capillarization in the legs by cycling.

I think that must be how trained cyclists overcome the heart stroke volume limitation seen in non-cyclists are tested on stationary bikes.

My mum's running performance increased when she started cycling and that's quite common from what i've heard. I'd say it would be a good initial improvement but I'm not sure if you'd continue to improve for long.

Apparently guys have slightly bigger hearts than women (along with more hemoglobin, lower body fat percentages, more muscle etc etc :rolleyes:) so you'll have a larger stroke volume than me. :mad: ;) Pity it's so hard to target in training for an athlete trying to maintain fast twitch muscle fibres.

Thanks for the article Salty - i will definately study it :)

I'll look for that text you mentioned too Scrap - sounds like something that should be available at uni - good to know there are some perks for being a uni student! :)

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One thing I would mention about training your lactate threshold is that it does not discriminate where you do it. For instance if you just train your right arm the left will exhibit similar gains, so running will improve that of the whole body, but if I were you I would find a cross trainer to do it with high resistance. Cross county skiing can be one of the best workouts your can ever do, too bad we don't have snow over here in Aus though ;)

Thanks Salty :)

I look forward to the guide!

I'm going to look up more on muscle fibres - I just don't really want to believe that they can only be converted from fast to slow and won't go back!

Especially in response to an Adult's training rather than during a young person's development? It sounds more like deterioration than an adaption to exercise.

Perhaps that's what it is though - less ability to react to firing neurons as quickly since they are not maintained or something? :confused: I'll have to read up on it!

Right I'm still reading it but I found an article RE fast and slow twitch muscles fibres that might be of interest:

About.com: http://www.the-aps.org/publications/classics/articles/ingalls.pdf

And another one:

It is generally accepted that muscle fiber types can be broken down into two main types: slow twitch (Type I) muscle fibers and fast twitch (Type II) muscle fibers. Fast twitch fibers can be further categorized into Type IIa and Type IIb fibers.

About.com: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1137px7x66667132/

Bsically i think from these articles the evidence is inconclusive although granted I might want to keep looking for more up to date info.

I'm wondering how much mentality comes into it also.

I feel most confident with a strong endurance base and I think longer workouts tend to be a good outlet. I generally only need one real endurance and perhaps one semi-endurance workout per week to see improvement. I don't see it including these sessions as being at the cost of other workouts neccessarily since I doubt I'd make gains from having more than 2 max 3 speed sessions a week?

Sorry missed this on the other post, Fibres can be altered over time. Also 3 maximum sessions a week is enougth for fitness. The secret of fitness is recovery Time, and having a good Vo2 max base. Boxing Fitness is in the catogary of middle distance Running train accordingly, its a mixture

Thanks Scrap :)

So by middle distance you might mean say a 10 km runner?

I'll look into that.

I've been reading articles on the Ross Boxing site and one relating to patience hit a nerve.

I guess that's what part of this is about - having the patience to trust that a few quality workouts a week is better than a heap of shitty ones, not to mention the patience to stick with a training program for a decent amount of time rather than changing it more often than your underwear. :-\

1500 metres is middle distance in my Book ;D. Look at a Training program for the event its a mixture of distance and intensity. Use to work at the same Time on the same track as Seb Coe, use to talk at length to Peter Coe, learned a lot. Sebs spent a lot of time in the gym to compliment the Track.

That's good to know, Scrap. For track I like to do the 800 m and this year will maybe be moving up slightly in distance and do a couple of events.

Yea...I have a hard time buying into the irreversible slow twitch fiber. I can't see a person having done some longer distance running, to now be stuck in sloth muscle twitch mode without the ability to change and or compliment it. I think it would be beneficial to have both that sort of long term endurance for long rounds required in pros, as well as explosiveness needed.

This is something I too want to look into more, and try to understand better.

1500 hundred is long! Damn!

Thanks Scrap

I'm sure it is beneficial - I think I might take some time adjusting to it and learning to train for it so I get the same endorphin kick out of it as I do longer runs but I will give it a go over Christmas. :)

I concur Youngblood - I'll have to read up on it more too but it wouldn't suprise me if there is a lot of natural variation which makes it difficult to find conclusive statistically significant differences.

Check out the huge SD (standard deviations) in the table in the second paper I posted - HUGE - bigger than the differences found!

My supervisor would have me throw that away completely! Granted he's a wanker though. ;D

I'd rep you both but i have to spread it apparently!

YB, interestingly I work with an 800 metre runner 17 now. When 16 in a year He improved his times by 16 secs in a year His pb for the event is 1 . 49 He is now in the Elite squad. All done by non impact work repairing not destroying, be kind to the muscle and joints they love the memory you give them. They repay you in kind. ;D

Ok it's late here and I promised myself an early morning tomorrow so i'll try not to blab on too much! ;D

1) Latest thoughts on slow and fast twitch muscle fibres is that slow twitch muscle fibres become better at using oxygen - they can actually do more biological processes I think but I'll have to double check those articles.

Plus they did say that fast twitch fibre area could increase even if they didn't think the concentration of fast twitch muscle fibres increased.

Makes me wonder if there is some local cell signalling involved whereby slow twitch muscle fibres can be recruited to function as fast twitch muscle fibres temporarily.

Perhaps this could be more likely in extreme situations - hence stories of people having super human strength and speed when they are most threatened. Perhaps adrenalin functions to make these slow twitch muscle fibres more receptive to local cell signalling? Just a thought!

2) I've written up a training program which will last me through to mid April. I based it on a training program i found on the net for 1500 m runners. Then i substituted some runs for swims and made a few more changes ..... and a few more but now i'm happy with it.

It is my goal for 2009 is to get over the serious case of training program ADD I have! I am actually going to stick to this one! It will be difficult because i love nothing more than to procrastinate with my various training books making up new programs but i think it becomes a problem when you almost as much time doing that as training while winging about being busy! :rolleyes:

3) I have finally de-wossed myself enough to commit to turning up to a new gym on Friday. Got permission from the coach already. Fingers crossed!

I'm a bit nervous about maybe having ruffled too many feathers changing gyms etc. I think i have to give it a shot though! Feeling untrained in my last gym is a wossy reason to quit. if I quit permanently I want to know it's because it's just not for me rather than any external factors.

9 X 400 m repeats with 2 min walk recovery between each repeat.

It hurt! Looking at the pace etc from my heart rate monitor data I can see exactly why i need to train this!

My heart rate does drop enough with the 2 min recovery but the pace is not exactly explosive. :pointlol:

I think i'm ok with my recovery rate for this workout - although i'll aim to recover to the same extent within 30 seconds. Right now I desperately need to get the pace up though!

It's not wussy at all! You have to do what is right for you and your goals. If you're not getting what you need at the gym you are at and there are other options, by all means go.

good luck and let us know how it goes!

;D interesting is it not.

Thanks Sourpuss :)

Honestly i have been pretty wossy about things recently i think but i'm feeling a bit more positive lately and I'm really looking forward to training in a club again. :)

Even having a new training program is good - i've learnt about another kind of workout I didn't know about before - compound sets. Probably is nothing new to most other people here but i think a bit of a change is refreshing. :)

Sorry to bore you Scrap - perhaps i should have video taped my 400 m repeat mediocrity so you could be entertained laughing at my pathetic attempts!

:pointlol::rotflmao:

Sharla you dont make me laugth. I find you insperational, Good Girl

Thanks Scrap :) I'm just fumbling along trying to get my groove back at the moment though - nothing inspirational about that but the encouragement is nice.

Today a 2 hr stretch. I have a few more of these sessions in my new program. The program I based mine on worked in 2 week block. So every 2 weeks it is changed. I have 2 days of these 2 hr stretch sessions before going onto each new 2 week block, plus one or two a week. Two runs each week are substituted with swims so i only do 2 or 3 runs a week - hard track intervals or compound sets.

Basic reasoning behind this is because i think tight muscles here and there are my most limiting factor. Not that I couldn't improve pretty much everything. My morning stretch is ok but it is not really enough time by itself i think. Plus there is a lot in my PNF stretching book I want to learn more about and a 2 hour session gives me time to get into them.

I'm deliberately not putting a routine to paper for the stretching session. I'm just going to stretch where i feel i need it most and hold stretces as long as I need to and repeat them if I need to. I know my tightest points and favourite stretches now.

Today most notable apart from my lower back (always the first thing i stretch) - right psoas, right abductor and right piriformis.

I got sun burnt the other week on my neck. Was wearing a loose top and the neck line fell more to my left side. I can see clearly that my right shoulder is higher than my left and in the front of my right hip i have a little tendon which sticks out a bit more on the right than the left.

All connect i think - from my hips up. I sometime get a click from my neck when i'm trying to do a retarded looking wiggle to release tension in my right hip.

Also my left hamstring which i knew about but still can't picture how it connects to or is influenced by the tight points in my right side.

I have a basic strength training program in mind - still very much wobble board etc based for better posture. I'm going to get into a routine with the other stuff before I start it though because if I start it but can't manage my time well anough to handle it all at once I'll just get pissed off at myself and not stick it out. Taking insurance measures to deal with my wossy side! ;D

Did my medley swimming sprints today.

Medley order = butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, freestyle - 4 different sprints to each set.

25 m with 30 seconds break.

6 sets of the above with only 30 secs break between sets, wearing fins.

Then recovery breastroke and backstroke without fins until I felt fully recovered (or as much as I was going to get).

Then I did two more sets of the medley order sprints with fins and a cool down swim without fins again to finish off.

Felt more explosive today than last time and I could up the volume significantly too. I think the stretch yesterday did me good!

I want to up this workout by a set per fortnight until i am doing 2 blocks of 6 sets and then I'll shorten the recovery time between sets.

An ex coach (in Japan) used to say you can train your second wind. He made me do something similar with hard bag rounds separated by some recovery speed ball work.

I'm thinking it might be another type of lactate threshold workout as long as I don't up the sets or decrease the recovery time too quickly and turn it into a long swim.

Also noticed parts of my stretching book have tips on how to check for muscle tightnesses.

I checked my quads and they are both tight!

You check for quads by sitting on a table and straightening your legs out. You should be able to straighten them all the way out and I'm a little off.

Having said that post swim checking again it's not so obvious! Maybe I've got it wrong .........:confused:

Nope it hasn't changed - don't do it on a soft chair - table is best i think.

It could be the upper hamstring whats stopping the movement.

Oh Right - yeah i did look at the section for hamstrings and they were a little limited definately. I really wouldn't be suprised if that's a big part of it. Thanks for reminding me Scrap. :)

The test they had in this book for the hamstrings was lying down flat and you're supposed to get your leg to be able to rise to a 90 degree angle - I can almost do it but not quite.

I don't really understand how they use the seated leg extension one as a test for the quads because i think they're contracting in that movement but that is what the book clearly states. :confused: I guess they say functional assessment not quadricep length - but they recommend stretching the quads.

Interestingly they link tight quads to lower back and knee pain so whether they're the cause of this limitation or not i might get into stretching them as a preventative thing since I know i'll be prone to both of those problems.

Still you're ight and it doesn't completely make sense so I googled it to see what tests were online for the Quads and I found a different looking one for quadricep length in the diagrams of this article:

BioMed Central | Full text | Reliability of measures of impairments associated with patellofemoral pain syndrome

There are all sorts of tests i haven't heard of in here - I'll have to read this one now!

Ran this morning - 2 X 1600 m repeats with 4 min break between them.

Felt sluggish - was sluggish!

I had a 15 min warm up but maybe it was too gentle, also choose the wrong terrain i think.

I ran on a really sandy track around a horse paddock which is on a hill - half the time it's up hill.

Even with all that taken into account I think it was a bit sloppy - perhaps I haven't fully recovered from my swim sprints yesterday.

Next time I'm going to pick a nice oval or flat running track and warm up with a bit more energy!

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Sharla you dont make me laugth. I find you insperational, Good Girl

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I think she's an inspiration to most people on here, I generally read through here and others to help with the motivation/ideas and it is a great help.

So thankyou Sharla, a lot of people appreciate and benefit greatly from what you write down here :)

PS. 400m intervals are no joking matter, I nearly died yesterday ;)

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Originally Posted by Salty

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Sharla you dont make me laugth. I find you insperational, Good Girl

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I think she's an inspiration to most people on here, I generally read through here and others to help with the motivation/ideas and it is a great help.

So thankyou Sharla, a lot of people appreciate and benefit greatly from what you write down here :)

PS. 400m intervals are no joking matter, I nearly died yesterday ;)

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Aww shucks thanks Salty that's a really nice thing to say coming from the tabatas god! :)

400s are mean! I'm considering taking myself down to 200s to build some speed up to the 400s since I feel they are not really sprints the way they should be but perhaps just sticking to a program for a while and overcoming my training program ADD is a priority!

I trained at my new gym tonight! It was originally going to be last Friday but they had time off over the new year. Just got back and I'm UTTERLY KNACKERED!

However I had soooooooo much fun! :happy0931sb4:

I am unlikely to compete this year I think but that is fine with me. I'm actually relishing the chance just to remember how much I enjoy it! Sure competing can be rewarding but i think the base where the rewarding part really comes from is in the gym.

When I was competing but not feeling like I was progressing in any way it was always a struggle. I knew I was not getting fitter because trainings I did in pairs often did not work my fitness and I was taught according to the stage and benefits of my training partner so i didn't feel myself progressing either.

I could have won almost anything and not felt as good as I do tonight having felt like I moved forward a tiny bit. :)

I will definately get some fitness out of these sessions too since we start the session with a fairly intense warm up of sprints and pushups etc on the grass outside of the gym. The warm up is arranged with a sense of humour as well and I can see why the young kids enjoy their time here!

At one stage we do pushups and have to hold ourselves up on command and then roll on command. We have to look at him while we hold ourselves up but I forgot that the first time and rolled the wrong way - luckily I was on the right end of the row and while they went left I went right so I just managed to avoid squashing anyone!

Other things in the warm up include burpies, situps, relay sprint races etc and bunny hops. My legs were already a little knackered and felt heavy the whole way through but it is satisfying knowing even at the end of the warm up if nothing else I would get some fitness work out of it!

Over the last week I saw something on TV about how people who stay within a healthy weight walk 10,000 steps a day. According to the cadence readings on my heart rate monitor that's a LOT of walking. So along with my other fitness training for the previous 2 consecutive days I've been doing 110 mins of walking on my flatmate's treadmill.

I'm up to walking at 6.9 km per hour since that is the fastest possible pace I can do and it is work since i think if i was walking outside I might not maintain it. That has increased my walking cadence from 67 to 71 already! I'm hoping that increase in cadence might translate a little to my running.

I know that my legs really feel it because of the different muscles used - less quads and more of everything else I think. Doing swim sprints last night both of my calves cramped up which i think is a reaction to the walking because that is fairly rare for me.

I also find it satisfying since one walk has me doing more than 12 km and I get a sense of satisfaction I used to get from longer distance running without the impact and i think it has been actually good for my back. :)

Anyway now I've blabbed on about how jelly legged I am I'll continue with my summary of my boxing training.

It's a very casual atmosphere but the coach is really helpful. No one has been able to or bothered to help me with my uppercuts before enough for me to feel I'm doing it correctly. He has me doing it! He even shows me how to lead into it by moving in with a sort of long left hook / overhand thing which acts as a bluff while getting my weight in the right place to throw a nice uppercut.

We also move around and do something called toe tapping where he tries to step on my toes and then says four and I have to throw 4 punches at his gloves. It means when my weight is on my back foot I should naturally throw my right hand first (as an orthodox) and when it's on my front foot my left.

I'm not supposed to think about the punches but keep on balance and watch my distance and sometimes his gloves are positioned for uppercuts or hooks so they're not all straights. My flow feels better than usual doing this fairly quickly! To be honest with coaches in gyms before my last one I enjoyed pad work but in my last gym it just didn't feel right. I think working with someone without upsetting their natural rhythm is a great skill for a coach to have.

I get three rounds of sparring which i really didn't expect! Not the first session back! It's light sparring and fun except for the distinct feeling of impending death by heart failure i can feel coming on! I sparred a southpaw and i'm happy to have been able to tag him a few times since I am crap with southpaws!

Most of the guys there are in their teens with about three or four adults and one really young boy. The young boy has a LOT of fun! The coach gets into the ring and moves around on his knees (on a concrete floor :o) and lets the boy hit him.

To be honest I think he's a little bit crazy since this little kid can actually hit, but the coach is extremely generous to personally donate his brain cells to developing them! Older boys there watch smiling and tell me they did that when they were younger. It's nice to see they enjoy it enough to stay and still enjoy it!

This gym is an hour's drive from my house and trainings are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It's not easy to get there but I'm going to aim to come back whenever I'm able. It's just fun which is what I think I need right now! :)

Pilates today. I get cheap classes as a student at the local WEA centre.

It was a 1 hour class and I enjoyed it.

I hurt everywhere after last night ;D so i like that I had something relatively easy to do.

The ideas are interesting and I'm looking forward to the next class - the one which sticks out the most istrying to keep the scapula relaxed and not raising them to breathe but concentrating on allowing the rib cage to expand sideways.

This is something I want to focus on a bit because the point where I tend to feel the most pain in my back feels like it is around where muscles between the scapula and the spine muscles join the spine.

I KNOW the lower back and psoas is involved in causing pain but perhaps the scapula being raised could be part of the problem or just inhibit things loosening up the way they should.

Just dropping in saying good work im gonna be on the Trainer Section much more now. Dropping in on you Guys/Girls make sure you drop in my log aswell, i could do with a bit of advice here and there cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nonito Donaire

Just dropping in saying good work im gonna be on the Trainer Section much more now. Dropping in on you Guys/Girls make sure you drop in my log aswell, i could do with a bit of advice here and there cheers.

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Will do thanks :) Hope the elbows are beginning to feel better :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nonito Donaire

Just dropping in saying good work im gonna be on the Trainer Section much more now. Dropping in on you Guys/Girls make sure you drop in my log aswell, i could do with a bit of advice here and there cheers.

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Will do thanks :) Hope the elbows are beginning to feel better :)

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Yea there feeling fine its mostly just my forearms that get most of the sharp pains. Im laying off the Barbell Curls for awhile and im gonna focus more on Dumbells/Chin-Ups ETC. Just had two really good sparring sessions today, so im feeling pretty good. Im also gonna be doing swimming more often now like i used to do in high school.

Sounds like a good plan Ice - I will keep an eye on your log. :)


Monday Boxing training.

Couldn't get out of uni until 5:30 so I got there a little late and missed half the warm up!

Still ended up getting a good workout though.

Did a little running, push ups, burpies and ab work to warm up. The ab work is funny. There are a couple of very small kids there brought along with their dad.

The rest of us have to lie down in a circle with our feet six inches above the ground while the kids walk on our stomachs. The smallest boy gets right into it and really stomps as hard as he can -I'm soooo glad he's light!

Then straight in for sparring again which suprises me!

I sparred six rounds with three different guys. I can tell I really need to increase my hand speed and tempo again. I manage to pick it up a bit in the last round but it will take some work! I like working with the different sparring partners and different styles though!

Then I did 3 or 4 rounds of shadow and a couple doing mit work with the coach the same as last time. To be extra mean he throws some burpies in the middle for me!

Then to finish off I have to carry a log - yes a log - apparently it's a tradition - and run around the oval. Bloody awkward thing! I am soooooo unfit!

The sad news is that will be my last training at this gym! The coach has got fed up with boxing SA also and with some political issues with people that are just plain ridiculous he's ready to fly back to the UK and open a pub with his brother within the next few months!

Another guy there is considering taking over and registering the club for this year but he's not an accredited coach. I open my big mouth and say that I am and his eyes light up as if I just solved all his problems but I regret it almost immediately. I know exactly what Dave means by boxing SA politics which is a big part of why I'm not interested in competing this year also.

I have a feeling I won't be asked to help out because one of the two boys in the gym interested in fighting won't without Dave coaching perhaps because he's not 100 % sure he want to anyway. It's expensive to register coaches and clubs then for only one other person.

I say I'll help out if they need someone accredited in the corner but I'm not really ready to coach - I'm still learning myself. Dave says no you'd be a good coach. Damn standards are low if I'm coach material! :mad:

Thing is in SA they are! We go on to have a conversation about all the coaches in SA who have fighters but have NEVER actually fought themselves. Many of them are also very involved in boxing SA politics and extremely strict asking more from kids making weight etc than they have ever experienced themselves which is just stupid and dangerous.

Another coach who actually does have some decent experience of his own is so fed up with the politics he wants to just take all his fighters interstate to compete! It's sad! I am seeing the slow death of boxing SA right here! :eek:

Anyway the coach Dave offers to work with me free of charge between customers everynow and again in the city. He works as a personal trainer and I live close to the city so that will be great and it's really nice of him to offer! :)

I was actually considering paying him for extra coaching when I found a job and was no longer a pov student but it's a pity I won't be able to supplement that with sparring a variety of people like I did tonight! :(

Aaahhhh the politics of amateur boxing. No wonder the sport is struggling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sourpuss

Aaahhhh the politics of amateur boxing. No wonder the sport is struggling.

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Yeah politics ruin everything! :rolleyes:

Just when I'd found somewhere really fun and constructive to train too! :mad:

Problem is the politics that discourage the right people from staying in it!

It's people who think it's ok to big note themselves and pretend they know everything based on no actual boxing experience who try to promote themselves through younger participants who thrive in this system!

I guess this happens in everything ultimately and to make the most of anything a bit of flexibility might be required!

I got a job!

I got a job!

I got a job!

Wow that's a HUGE relief! Nothing crappier than job hunting right now wondering if anything is ever going to come up!

Yay! Maybe now I can get into a regular routine (maybe).

:happy0931sb4::happy0931sb4::excited::banana::clap :

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I got a job!

I got a job!

I got a job!

Wow that's a HUGE relief! Nothing crappier than job hunting right now wondering if anything is ever going to come up!

Yay! Maybe now I can get into a regular routine (maybe).

:happy0931sb4::happy0931sb4::excited::banana::clap :

---

Congrats. Let me fix your clap at the end there. :clap:

:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Youngblood

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I got a job!

I got a job!

I got a job!

Wow that's a HUGE relief! Nothing crappier than job hunting right now wondering if anything is ever going to come up!

Yay! Maybe now I can get into a regular routine (maybe).

:happy0931sb4::happy0931sb4::excited::banana::clap :

---

Congrats. Let me fix your clap at the end there. :clap:

:)

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Thanks Youngblood! :)

No idea how I managed to stuff up the clap - some kind of excited twitch thing probably!

Now I'm off to buy a pair of shoes to celebrate! ;D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I got a job!

I got a job!

I got a job!

Wow that's a HUGE relief! Nothing crappier than job hunting right now wondering if anything is ever going to come up!

Yay! Maybe now I can get into a regular routine (maybe).

:happy0931sb4::happy0931sb4::excited::banana::clap :

---

Congrats Sharla at my moment in time as i've said many times, i've got more chance of getting shit out of a rocking horse. Than i have of getting a job at the moment, the only way i earn money is selling some hooky gear every now and again. But i have got a nice little nest egg so its not all bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ICB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I got a job!

I got a job!

I got a job!

Wow that's a HUGE relief! Nothing crappier than job hunting right now wondering if anything is ever going to come up!

Yay! Maybe now I can get into a regular routine (maybe).

:happy0931sb4::happy0931sb4::excited::banana::clap :

---

Congrats Sharla at my moment in time as i've said many times, i've got more chance of getting shit out of a rocking horse. Than i have of getting a job at the moment, the only way i earn money is selling some hooky gear every now and again. But i have got a nice little nest egg so its not all bad.

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Thanks ICB :)

Don't give up though. I felt the same way. Honestly the day before I was having a little cry over it!

When I've finished my PhD I'm going to start doing other courses part time too just to give me a few more options next time I'm in this situation!

This morning I walked to uni - about 14 kms. Didn't wear my heart rate monitor because I wanted to break in my new shoes and the cadence foot pod doesn't fit on them.

I think next time I will wear my runners because seeing my cadence will have me working harder and my new shoes gave me a big blister on my heel!

If I had my camera here I'd post a pic of it but I don't! :(;)

If (fingers crossed) I can finish my uni work on time I'm going to the pool tonight. :)