Tips for Balancing Work and Workouts

Literally everyone is busy. Constantly stressed, always busy. However, the weird humble-bragging about being busy has got to stop. Please, Millennials, stop bragging about how “busy” you are – none of us are that big of a deal. Everyone is busy; busy is the new normal. But, if busy is the new normal, how do you fit in your fitness goals with your career goals? 

PSA – Stretching

One of the things I’ve come to neglect in training is…drum roll please…stretching. I have never been flexible. Ever. In school, for the President’s Physical Fitness Test, the stupid straight leg stretch would consistently pull my score down. My toes and I aren’t super familiar, and my hamstrings are tighter than Guantanamo Bay. 

Squat Day!

Yesterday was a glorious Monday and I finally got in a solid leg workout again! My triathlon season is winding down, and I’m focusing on some more strength-building for the Spartan Race I plan to do in a month. A Spartan Race is a completely different beast from triathlons, and requires different, but complementary, fitness. 

Weightlifting – Part II

Last week I published a post titled “Triathlon Training and Weightlifting” where I ran through one of my typical leg-day workouts. I really do think weightlifting can easily get ignored when all you want to do is get out on your bike. But weightlifting is important for so many reasons, including: finding and correcting imbalances, strengthening stabilizer muscles, recruiting the core muscles in different ways, and generally creating well-rounded athletes. I wanted to follow that post up with a Part II, running through my Tuesday – Arms workout. It’s below; let me know what you think! 

Triathlon Training and Weightlifting

 

Triathlon training caters to, and creates, a certain type of athleticism. The constant pounding, pushing the heart and the body to be as efficient as possible. Hundreds of thousands of repetitions of strokes and steps only serve to reinforce certain muscles of the body, certain neural firings. Practice makes perfect, and the hours of training only reinforce the specific actions needed in the sport.

Just Some Thoughts on Suffering

Triathletes are the strangest creatures. Truly. They adore talking about their workouts, the long hours, the suffering, and the sacrifices they make in order to progress in the sport. Even Strava, the cycling/running/etc training app, has a “suffer score” for each workout. That says it all. How much can you suffer? How much can stress can you take?

Ready (or not) for Peasantman

Nothing about the past couple weeks has been easy. Nor should it be. Losing your job is life-changing, as is getting a new one. I lost my groove there for a couple weeks, but I’m falling back into it and it feels good. It feels really good. I’ve finally found some motivation again and workouts are leaving me happy and tired.

Self-Criticism – Just Don’t

This morning was the start to “one of those days.” Nothing out of the ordinary happened, my morning workout went as planned. I just could not shake my negative mindset. It was a struggle to get out of bed, although I had slept great. Halfway to the gym, I wanted to turn around and go home.

Stress: Make or Break.

Stress /stres/:

1. pressure or tension exerted on a material object.

2. a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

Triathlons and a Social Life??

I’ve come to realize that triathlon training really limits your social life. And I keep learning this lesson over and over again, as I consistently push myself to do more and sleep less.