Sunday, April 24, 2011

Outdoor Gym

Heading into the first race of the season(mid May) I am feeling strong and my training rides have all been excellent to date. I have noticed a definite improvement in my climbing ability and overall wattage on the bike. I can only attribute the improvement to my workout regimen this pass Winter and Spring with a focus upon developing lower body strength and overall power in more of a natural setting.....

I call it my Outdoor Gym. It does seem complimemtary to my Primal WOE; both being simplistic in approach, functionality and form.It is all about getting outside for movement, exercise, sun and air making use of whatever nature or urbanization offers along the way to help facilitate a workout..

Trail Run - I use this as my warmup from home on trails that are wooded and covered in woodchips. Very forgiving to the body unlike pavement or concrete.


Sprint Intervals - I follow Tabata style sprints. Twenty seconds of hard effort followed by 10 seconds of recovery X 8.

Side Bench Jumps - I started doing these mostly to improve my lateral strength for playing nets in ball hockey. Very effective and they are a perfect warmup before my usual rock jumps.

Rock(Wall) Jumps - Here is an adaptation of my usual rock jumps. I found this rock wall adjacent the soccer field the result of the construction of the facility. I have often climbed it but decided today to incorporate some jumping...hence my hesitation at picking a good line to jump.

Here is a picture of the wall for a better perspective.......


Box Jumps - Box style jumps using whatever natural or manmade obstacles one might discover outside. Today my challenge was a downed tree made more difficult due to the roundness of the trunk and wet conditions.Took me several attempts to maintain my balance but a fun challenge nonetheless.Followed by a previous boulder jump that offered a natural landing platform and is probably my PB in terms of jump distance.



Rock Throws - Once again a basic concept of throwing around some weight utilizing your whole body rather than typical isolation exercises. I also use a medecine ball to perform similar exercises.


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