Wednesday - Post Recovery

So today was my first day back after a 3 day unscheduled hiatus from training. I'm not really sure what to make of what happened. So for 3 days, I was just tired. sleeping 12 hours a day tired and that is not including the 2 hour naps. As far as I could tell I wasn't fighting off an infection. My heart rate was pretty normal. And to be honest, I wasn't "tired". But I was abnormally sleepy.

My mantra from when I was working over night is to never train when I'm sleepy. That's how I got to 3 days off. I would wake up after 8 hours of sleep and still be yawing. So I'd have breakfast then go take about an hour nap. I'd work on some video projects for a couple of hours, then I'd be ready for nap number 2. 3 days of this was killing me. But in the scheme of things we'll see how this plays out for my training.

Wednesday is my normal day to go to the track and check the results of my MAF (maximum aerobic function) work. Things looked pretty good for the first mile but I think the heat and the wind were a bit much for me and my heart rate started to climb out of the zone for the test. I think this is where discipline comes in. I could have held on to the pace I normally am able to run out of pride but I want this work to pay off long term so, I sucked it up and slowed way down to get my heart rate back down. The cool thing is I didn't have to walk to do it. So if there is a moral victory to be had anywhere, I'd say that would be it.

I also rode my bike this morning but only for about 45 minutes in attempting to keep my first day back moderate while sticking to the training pattern I like to follow on Wednesdays.

After the track MAF, I went down to the shore and did some pullups. I think about 60 total. And I did a few sets of dips. So tomorrow I'll lighten up on the pullups and enhance the core work during my strength training. I'll do a 20 minute run to warm up for the strength work.

And I suppose I'll get to bed now. I'm sleepy again. Peace and train well!

P90X And Triathlon

I get a large number of visits on this blog daily because of my experiences with the P90X work out program. And a few of these are from triathletes who are considering whether or not the program can help them with reach their multisport goals. I've tried to be as detailed as possible about my take on P90X and its benefits. For someone who doesn't have a lot of time and wants a strength program that is varied and well structured, I'd say it is well worth the investment of about $130 to $300 to assemble all the necessary equipment. If you want to know what I think about P90X then read the weekly posts. Sure you can look at the end result, but that won't give you the information you need about what it was like trying to do the program and maintain some semblance of triathlon specific work.  That, in a nutshell, was hard. Very hard.

But here's the thing. What I found doing P90X, and I'd wager you'd find this doing any coherent, focused functional strength program, is my endurance increased along with my strength. Translation, I was able to work longer, at a faster rate, more efficiently when it was all said and done. Did I look like the folks on TV? Nope. But honestly, I really didn't care about that. What I got from doing P90X for 90 days was a faster return to the level of fitness I enjoyed prior to my 5 year hiatus.

I've had quite a bit of time to consider to effects of P90X on Triathlon training having almost 2 years since I did my first workout pass. First I will say I do believe it is possible to do both P90X and Tri training. I've said that all along. But what I've also said is there are caveats. The main one being the results you are looking for from the program. If those results are more on the appearance side, then I'd definitely tone down the tri specific work until I "looked" the way I wanted.

On the other hand if you wanted to use P90X as a basis for enhancing tri performance, then I think with some modification to the routine it could be done with great success for all distances. 

Why do I say this? I say this because many athletes tend to overlook the importance of basic strength in triathlon and focus an overly large amount of time on endurance. And when I speak of strength I'm talking about a concept beyond lifting weights in the gym a couple of hours a week in the midst of swimming, biking and running throughout the week. When I speak of strength, I'm speaking about things like range of motion, connective tissue, power, balance, coordination, muscular access, and muscular endurance. 

The more I consider the way time is or can be spent preparing for Triathlon of any distance, the more I feel that each of the three sports are techniques to be learned and mastered, and the results you see on race day are from the successful integration and application of full bodied strength and technique work. P90X can certainly assist in creating that. You simply need to know when, where, and how to apply it in the scheme of your other tri specific training.

3 Seconds And 12 Watts Later

This week was a test week. I was to get a baseline on all three sports, swimming, cycling and running. But because of my foot and the previously dislocated bone in it (there is still a bit of inflamation, but other than that no real pain to speak of) I skipped the run test and opted to add a 30 second pushup test in its place. Just for kicks. 62 perfect pushups in 30 seconds. Not bad. But there was definitely some pain involved in the exercise. But now that I've done it I think I'll do this test as well when I test again next month. I may see if I can work up to a 60 second pushup test. Who knows? I think the pushup results are encouraging though I must admit at the time I wasn't sure what they would mean for my other test this week.

The swim and bike results were encouraging as well. About 12 watts on the bike up from last year's test in November and 3 seconds per 100m faster in the swim. I think I'm seeing this because of the change in focus in my training. I've decided to devote more of my time working on strength. One reason for this is I didn't have that much to begin with. The other is because I'm not getting any younger.

By focusing on strength and muscular endurance type work to transform my body into one that can handle more work loads in my training, and keeping the triathlon specific work focused on technique, I'm allowing my body the time it needs to become more powerful and proficient at the same time without the accumulated stress of weeks of endurance based training. So first I will adapt myself to the loads, then I will adapt to carrying sports specific loads. One of the things I observed was as I became fitter in my prior racing, I also seemed to become weaker physically. Some of this was probably my scattershot approach to nutrition back then. But some of that was probably also due to the nature of the stresses that come along with racing.

I think the most encouraging thing I am taking away from this week's tests is on the bike I am now able to ride in the big chainring. Last year, I had to acknowledge that I didn't posses the strength or fitness to race effectively using larger gears. Now even though I am lighter, I had no issue with holding a big gear in either my time trial test or the test I conducted on the trainer a few days later. In fact I was riding the majority of the time trial in either a 53x12 or 53x13. No way I could have pulled that off last year.

I think there are a couple of reason that account for the early season progress I'm both seeing and feeling. The largest component has to be rest. I am making a concerted effort to place rest front and center in my training schedule. Basically what this amounts to is in addition to the "no working out sleepy" rule there is now a 9:30pm curfew. I brought this rule back with me from Colorado after I spent some time on my friend's back porch watching the sun and moon rise and set for a few days. It occurred to me that nature operated quite well within the parameters of these movements and I should probably follow her very obvious example in my own life. More than any other single workout, gadget, or supplement I've ever tried this single change by far has had the most immediate and verifiable impact.

I also have to acknowledge the huge benefit I am now enjoying by employing both functional bodyweight training, yoga, and accessible core work into my weekly routine. I owe so much of the power and endurance I have to this I can't begin to express. The thing is I haven't really begun my endurance training yet but because of the workouts I've put together I know I am now starting from a position of strength versus ground zero. I can train harder and recover faster. And I still have a full time job.

Monday - Strength Work Ace Style

So yesterday was Boot Camp at Hill Country Fitness. I lead these so, technically I don't have to actually do the workouts. But in an effort to maximize my time I do participate. This makes sure I get some much needed strength work and cross training in without having to go to the gym. ;)

Here's what we did.

1) Start out with 50 Hindu Squats - These are good for loosing up the joints and warming the body up in a hurry while also building endurance.
2) about a 2 min trot over to the Town Square in the Galleria.
3) 1 min of Shuffle Squat Touch - A low side shuffle to the right in basketball stance, squat down touch the ground, then repeat other direction
4) 30 seconds Jump switch squat - Wide legged stance, squat down touch the ground in front of the front foot, then jump, turn, squat and touch ground behind you with the opposite hand.
5) 30 seconds Revolved Warrior lunge pulse. (30 seconds each leg) So Warrior II with the back heel up (technically Anjaneyasana or high lunge) but you bring the arm opposite the lunging knee to the front and pulse into the bent front leg. Core, balance, endurance and strength just like we like it.
6) Repeat exercises 2 through 5.
7) Trot over to the parking garage ( about 2 min) then 5 min of running up and down 2 flights of stairs. ( I "float" these meaning I skip 2 steps and explode off my toes the instant they come into contact with the stairs)
8) 1 min incline pushups
9) 1 min dips
10) 1 min modified Hindu Pushups (Dive Bombers)
11) Repeat 8-11
12) 1 min Towel slides for core ( stand on a towel with palms flat on the floor, slide the towel back to a plank position, slide the towel forward to a standing forward fold.
13) 1 min Cross leg Crossover Sit up - on your back legs out straight in a V right hand behind the head left arm points up to the ceiling. Taking the left hand straight up is if you are being pulled up, hinging at your waist come up to a seated position, legs still in the V shape. Once you are in the seated position, take the left hand over and touch the right foot, recline, switch the hand/arm position and repeat.
14) 1 min In/Out - seated on the floor, palms at your sides, knees bent feet hover just above the floor. Move the legs out, then back in toward the chest.
15) Repeat 12-14
16) Cool down.

Later, I taught a yoga class. Needless to say I was tired. The plan was to ride in between the Boot Camp and Yoga but life got in the way. The winds were too high and it was threatening rain. Plus I had an acupuncture appointment to go to. I'll try to squeeze the ride in next week. As it stands I was pretty tired at the end of the day so I'll count it as a strength day in my log.

Yoga For Triathletes - Uttanasana

Uttanasana, or standing forward fold, is an asana that is good for all athletes. The pose is benificial because it releases the muscles of the low back and the hamstrings. Notice I said "releases," not stretch.

When I started thinking about what poses could benefit us as athletes, Uttanasana was one that I didn't immediately include in my list. The reason for this wasn't because it was too simple, or too well known, (all you do is bend over, who couldn't do that?). What came to mind as I thought about Uttanasana, or standing forward fold, was the risk of an athlete injuring his or herself in this pose far outweighed the benefits to be had from using it. But then I read something on Lucho's blog in the comments that caused me to rethink things.

Basically, this boiled down to two things. First, Lucho (Sorry, can't locate his original post) cautioned athletes about stretching, and yoga in particular, citing the potential for injury. And second was Lucho's saying he could put his palms on the floor without feeling any pull in his hamstrings at all. Personally, I completely agree with both of these positions. But I have a couple of caveats to add. After having practiced yoga for over 5 years, I've discovered there is actually no stretching of muscles going on in an "informed" practice whatsoever. Yoga demands the development of coordinated muscle activity. As such, a pose like Uttanasana is as much a core cultivator as it is a hamstring release. And it is that ability to learn to consciously let go of the hamstrings that allows this asana to bestow its benefits on those who chose to explore it more fully.

In life we spend a great deal of time accumulating things for a variety of reasons. Tension and the illusion of control are among these. The standing forward fold, while a good pose for releasing accumulated stress and tension in the body, also provides a framework to allow us to experience the process of releasing our unconscious hold on the hamstrings which in turn usually results in a tight lower back. Instead of "stretching" the hamstrings, what we are learning to do in this position, is to mindfully release them. By releasing the hamstrings consciously, we deepen the fold and our experience of it, but we also gain access to more direct control of the working muscles in our bodies.

This is the process I feel we go through as we progress as people and as athletes. Each workout provides us with more and more insight into the inner workings of our own bodies and how they respond to various training loads, meals/fueling, and rest patterns. In the forward fold there is a point in the body, especially when the folds are new and your limits seem set in stone, where as you reach your limit, you begin to hold on for dear life. You lock certain muscles in place so that you don't break, lose your depth or fall over. If you don't take stock of where you are at this point to see exactly what is going on, how you are using the muscles in such a manner as to actually build a very substantial (albeit mental) wall between you and your goal of moving your nose closer to your shins, you will have reached the limit of expression in the forward fold for you. But if you are able to stand at your edge, breathe, observe, and take stock as to where you are holding on, you will in time begin to notice some of the muscles you have been using in your "fight to maintain" your current depth are actually the same muscles holding you back from a deeper expression in the fold. It is when you realize this, you can begin to consciously release these muscles one by one. It is at the very point you decide to let go of these muscles that have been useful in keeping you at your current edge, you discover you can move deeper and express more fully in the pose.

The same can be said of any other aspect of our lives. Once we realize our own perceptions -- fears really -- are the only thing between us the realization of our dreams, we are then capable of remarkable things. In yoga, the act of folding forward is a physical "bowing in" to and an acknowledgement of the self.

To come into Uttanasana poperly stand with the feet together, hands on the hips. Bend forward at the hips, using them as a hinge, versus bending at the waist which strains the lower back. Bending at the hips your pelvis should articulate backwards slightly and as you fold forward there should be a small inner rotation of the upper thighs. This rotation will create space for the torso. Once you feel any pull in the back of the hamstrings, this is as far as you should fold. Explore this point either with your arms folded over head, hands cupping the elbows, or hands at the shins, or fingertips or palms on the floor. In time as you explore your individual edge, you can work on relaxing and releasing the hamstrings consciously. By focusing on the role of the core muscles once you have released the hamstrings, you will be able to find a deeper fold.

You can find a picture and more details on the pose here.

Yoga and Strength - Yoga For Triathletes

So when you think of yoga, you normally think of people with stick figure bodies who are able to take themselves into shapes that would injure a pretzel. Or you think it would be great to be more flexible and you think of yoga as a way to accomplish this. You may not see much difference in yoga and some of the stretches you've seen or read about. I know I didn't until I'd done yoga for a few weeks. I'll say it for the record. Yoga can be much more challenging than any other physical activity I've ever done.

One of the most notable differences between yoga and simple static stretches is the sequencing. Most good yoga classes follow a well thought out progression which moves the body deeper and deeper into similar but more challenging positions. In fact many of the common poses you may be familiar with such as Downward Dog, Crow Pose, or even a simple Forward Fold are actually "preparations" for deeper yoga poses. The same is also true of many static stretches people come to know and use regularly. These stretches are variations or simplified Yoga poses. Often what is going on in these variations is the pose is modified by taking several dimensional components out of it so that it becomes more accessible for someone new to using their bodies in an unfamiliar way. Static stretches (and most weight machines) often remove the coordinated muscle recruitment that relates to stability. The removal of these components, while making the stretch simple, has the undesirable side affect of doing less to actually strengthen the body. This is a very important distinction.

It is this distinction that has started me to look more closely into defining strength as it applies to what we wish to do with and get from our bodies. This is especially true for people who are requiring their bodies perform specific and highly specialized tasks. With this in mind, manifested strength for a powerlifter is going to appear very different from manifested strength for a dancer or the manifested strength for a runner. But what is similar is all of these athletes share the need for training movements that allow them greater access to integrated and coordinated muscle recruitment which will provide a more economical yet powerful response to performance related stimuli.

Recently I've spent some time watching a local core conditioning class. One of the things I noticed was how similar many of the exercises were to Yoga poses you would find in a movement based or Vinyasa class. However there was one subtle difference. When focusing only on the core as the class did there was very little, if any integration taking place involving the rest of the body as it related to the core. A simple example of this was the use of Plank Pose in the core class. While the class used several versions of Plank, they were all static which largely isolates the core from other muscles in the body by simply creating the tension necessary to remain in a flat plane. You will see Plank used a lot in Yoga classes as well. But with one difference. The pose is rarely held for long periods in static form. The Plank Pose is a transition into other dynamic movements. One such movement is to simply bring a knee up to the chest and hold it there. This movement engages the core in an active manner useful to runners and cyclists. In Yoga the movement teaches the recruitment necessary to move from Downward Dog to a Lunge (or Runner's Pose) by bringing the body forward into Plank, while hovering the knee, and "placing" the foot in between the hands. Experienced Yogis are able to perform this movement silently but if you find yourself in a Yoga class listen when this move is performed and you may be amazed at how much noise is created by people dropping their feet to the floor by simply moving into a lunge.

This all brings me to a quote one of my favorite yoga teachers here in Austin, Sanieh (she is pictured at the top of this post), said in her class once, "We aren't just strong, we are Yoga strong." Her classes reflect this deep understanding of the importance of integrating strength with balance, coordination, and awareness. What she meant with her observation was that while yogis may not possess bulging muscles, they do possess a body awareness and muscular intelligence that allows them to perform incredible acts like handstands, countless arm balances, or the ability to simply walk up a flight of stairs without being heard. It isn't that Yoga is the best or only way to achieve strength. But what Yoga does do is provide a framework for someone to discover hidden strength that can be found within the body by learning to look at an integrative, dynamic training program versus a static one.

P90X Review Week 12... Finally!!!

OMFG! ONE MORE WEEK TO GO!!!!!

Well, I finally made it to and through the week 12 workouts. And I'd really like to say how happy I am and so forth. But honestly, I'm just tired. Not necessarily tired physically. But I am mentally tired of doing P90X. This would probably be a different story if I were just in it for the cosmetic changes and didn't have to attend to my triathlon specific work at the same time. So I do not really fault P90X for the way I feel mentally. That is just the nature of my personal goals and how they have affected my outlook at this point. Honestly, I'd rather be spending more of my time swimming, cycling and running. I can probably attribute some of this to being inside a little too much lately. I do live in Austin, Texas and the weather here hasn't been all that bad lately. It is pretty much in the 70's and sunny right now.

Okay enough of that. Lets look at some of the results so far. Basically when I started P90X the one thing I could do was pushups. So I wasn't really too concerned with those. But when I started these workouts I was doing 20 standard pushups. Now I do around 45. This is not my max, just what I do to be able to complete the rest of the 1 hour workout effectively. What is really telling is when the sets are repeated, I can still do 40 pushups during the second round.

When I started doing pullups, I could only do 2. Now I can do 10 unassisted.

But I started doing P90X because I believed it would make me stronger for triathlons. What happened there is nothing short of amazing when you consider I have done in 3 months what may have taken much longer without the program. In the pool since P90X, my swim times have dropped to pre-hiatus race levels and below on just the most basic technique work I can do. And my endurance is still quite high even though my time in the pool has been limited.

On the bike, the results are the same. My endurance is higher than it was this summer and comparable to pre-hiatus race levels. I have no problems with wind, hills, or just throwing down the hammer when I feel like it and I am pushing bigger gears at a higher cadence. The biggest difference I can say I see on the bike is being able to endure more uncomfortable efforts without sacrificing technique.

But the most dramatic effect has been on my running. For the first two phases of P90X I limited my running to once or twice a week for fear that I wouldn't have the needed recovery for all my other workouts. During this last phase I have run every day. Yep every day. I was NEVER able to run every day before this. Even when I was racing at my best, I wouldn't have even considered it. Running just beat me up too much to make that a possibility. Now even though I'm doing P90X and yoga and the rest of my workouts, with a little basketball thrown in for good measure, I still can run daily without injury. That is HUGE.

Last night I was talking to a friend who is a self proclaimed "fitness buff." He likes to collect vintage workout books. So he has heard a great deal about P90X even though he has never done the program himself. He was asking me my take on the program so far. I told him what I have told everyone else. The program works. Like most things you get out of it what you put into it. Even if you don't do the diet, you will still walk away with more functional, usable strength than you had when you came into the program. And you will have more functional strength than if you were working out on your own in a gym. Look at it this way. Basically for $120.00 you hired yourself a 7 day a week personal trainer. And a kick butt one at that who shows up whenever you want and works you out for an hour every day for 3 months. If you include all the necessary materials, like the pullup bar and resistance bands or dumbbells, for $300.00 you still can't beat the price. For a triathlete, or anyone else, who just wants to create more durable, usable muscle I don't think there is a more efficient use of time than doing P90X. Just be aware without the diet you won't look like the photos you see on the commercials so, if that is your goal make sure you commit to the food plan and put as much energy in your eating as you put into the workouts.

P90X Week 12 So Far (Week 11 Redux)

So if you read my P90X post about week 11 you know that I basically got my azz handed to me on a silver platter complete with all the fixin's. It wasn't pretty. I was sore, I was stiff, I was beaten. It was bad. I felt like I'd been 10 rounds with Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier at the same time. Pushing play was never harder. Because of that I came into week 12 with a game plan. What was that might you ask? Two things really. First, "REPEAT THAT SEQUENCE!!!" I don't know about you, but while I can be a very gracious loser on the outside, that in no way means I am not plotting your ultimate destruction on the inside for our next encounter. And in this instance since the person who beat me was me (via a proxy by Tony Horton and crew), I figured it was time for me to take back what was mine -- aka my dignity and do some serious butt kicking of my own. Even if it killed me.

I know, I know, you're probably like, "Well Ace it was just one week. FIDO (forget it drive on). You are almost done!"

And you know, you are exactly right. But I don't roll like that. So after I decided to repeat the week, I knew the second thing that was needed. I needed to get right in the mind. And once my mind was right I was gonna bring it BIGGER, BADDER, MEANER and more RESOLUTELY than I had ever brought it before. To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite tribloggers, I was gonna show Tony and crew who was THE BOSS. Not even the dreaded AbRipperX was going to stop me. Because I was going to do AbRipperX every single day this week. And, and NO BREAKS. That's right. You heard me. No breaks. Except for water. But no stopping the DVD. During that time when I completed my sets before Tony and crew finished theirs, I jumped rope. And during the programmed water breaks, usually about a minute after each 10 or 15 minute set depending on the workout, I jumped rope. During the cooldown, I jumped rope. Then I went and ran for 30 minutes.

So now it is Thursday, and I can say to you after four days of this, I'm still doing it. But I also know I wouldn't be able to do it if I hadn't been doing these workouts for the last 3 months. So what I can say is this is a way to intensify your P90X workouts once you've completed the program once or if in that last third of the program for a week or two before the recovery week. But be warned, jumping rope through the breaks adds a dimension of aerobic intensity to the workout like no one's business. Even I wasn't prepared for how much energy it took. In workouts where exercises are repeated, during the last 1/3 of the program, I struggled. Jumping rope for 5 minutes can feel like running 30. But no matter what make sure if you add that dimension to your workouts that you drink a lot of fluids. As for doing AbRipperX daily, the first 3 days were brutal. Doing that program with a rested midsection is difficult at best even after consistently working at it for almost 3 months. Doing it back to back is just plain brutal. Try that one at your own risk. Personally, I won't be doing that again.

But after tomorrow's Leg and Back workout plus AbRipperX, I'll have the knowledge that I took this workout further than I have ever done before. And I'll have my dignity back. Though I'll probably be due for a nice long nap. Because that is how I roll.

Some Thoughts on Strength Training

For most triathletes on the northern side of the equator, this is the time of year to begin recovering from the race season and the beginning of the base training phase. This is also the time of year when you start to see articles popping up regarding incorporating use of strength training. For many triathletes just making it to the gym is a challenge. There are a lot of reasons for this. And as the proud owner of three different gym memberships, I should know about most of them. The fact that you actually have to "go there" being at the top of the list. There are others. One of my friends looked at me with a very, very stern face when I suggested we add some strength training at the gym to our winter routine and just said, "It's inside."

As a group endurance athletes are often both time obsessed and time oppressed. When this happens, they do what any time efficient person would do, they look for places where they can optimize their training time. Spending more of their limited hours swimming, biking and running just seems like the best way to produce the results they seek. And in some instances there may be some research which suggest their thinking on the matter may not be too far off base. For more on this see what Joel Friel has to say in this blog.

This winter I decided to take a little different approach to my strength training. I decided to ask myself some questions prior to committing to a course of action that would ultimately carry me through until June 2008 when I planned on racing again. I had to ask myself what does strength mean for me as a triathlete? Once I could say what strength meant for me as a triathlete, I wanted to know what was the goal of the time I was going to be spending training strength?

When you just consider the term strength, an exact definition can be elusive. One of the simplest I found was "The ability of the neuromuscular system to produce force." And while this is a concise definition, you can see it does not specifically address the issue of strength as it pertains to an endurance athlete. And this is where the answer to my second question comes into play.

Basically I determined I had five goals for strength training this winter:

1. Change my body composition -- specifically build lean muscle and lower body fat percentage
   
2. Improve strength related stamina -- the ability to apply force for long periods of time, also known as muscular endurance
   
3. Develop functional strength -- focus on creating applicable strength that can be used in each of triathlons three disciplines
   
4. Develop muscular balance -- this would mean less chance of injury
   
5. Develop muscular flexibility and range of motion necessary for coordinated muscle recruitment
   

Once I decided on what my goals were for strength training it became obvious I wouldn't be spending much time in the gym at all. Here's why. Triathlon and the three sports that comprise it require you to move your body efficiently through space. The problem with most of the strength workouts you will see relying on large amounts of time in the gym is they limit the body's use of coordinated muscle recruitment with an overly focused emphasis on benches, bars, and special apparatus. In triathlon, the resistance you overcome is primarily your own. What is missing from work such as this is the ability to learn how to balance and effectively move your own body through the mediums of water and air. And your workout needs to address the aerobic nature of the sport as well in order to be an efficient use of time. Based on my goals and observations, I turned to several sources and started to do strength routines focused primarily on Isometric and bodyweight exercises and calisthenics. This means work focusing on resistance provided by my own body both with and without flexation (or movement). The workouts do not require much more equipment than dumbbells, a pull-up bar, a set of resistance bands, a chair, a jump rope, an ab wheel, some guidance (primarily from books and videos), a little imagination and some Yoga. A typical workout session can include pushups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, curls, Hindu squats, pistols (single leg squats), Hindu pushups, handstands and core work. In fact one of the things about doing these exercises versus going to the gym is my core is engaged in every single movement I perform now.

Some of the results I've noticed:

1. Convenient -- all work can be done at home
   
2. No boredom -- after 3 months I average 4 one hour strength sessions per week (5 if you count Yoga) where 2 sessions per week was a challenge to get in before
   
3. Less useless muscular bulk than when I used weights and a traditional gym routine
   
4. More actual range of motion -- probably the result of less bulk
   
5. Faster recovery time -- less stiffness/soreness making triathlon training while in a strength phase much less unpleasant and more productive
   

So far, the impact on my triathlon specific training has been positive. I have been able to utilize the additional strength and see it manifest in each sport. We'll just have to wait and see just how well this approach works when I race next season. My takeaway from the change in my strength work this winter is the more specific your strength work is to helping you realize your personal goals, the more likely you are to stick with it. The more often you get in the strength work the more likely you are to see the results you were looking for. In this way strength training isn't something to just squeeze in or add on to your other workouts, it is an integral component to realizing your multi-sport goals.

I found a video that shows what the functional strength workouts could look like. However, the guy in the video is extremely well conditioned. The work I do while somewhat similar is in no way as intense. Yet...

Images of Functional Strength

These videos are examples of functional strength -- meaning multiple muscle recruitment for balance and stability along with isolated strength to perform the range of motion the exercise requires. Enjoy.

Pistols. Enough said.



Hindu Squats. Try doing 500 of these in a row. Talk about endurance:



Handstand to Elbow Stand and back again:



Handstand Tutorial - very impressive: