FINAL NOTE ON THE TOUR DE
FRANCE:
Several readers commented about gaining a
greater interest of the Tour de France from my articles and classes about this
year’s tour. I wrote three newsletters based on the tour and taught three
different tour-based classes during the race. It was fun for me to base the
classes on the Tour. I think it gave students some nice variety from regular
classes.
We will return to "regular" classes now, focusing on strength
and aerobic capacity building. And, of course, calorie burning! But it might be
fun to so some more stage racing later this year.
AND THEN THE
OLYMPICS:
I love the Olympics but I am ready for them
to end tonight. My watching-endurance for multi-week sporting events was tested
after watching the Tour for three weeks, taking a week off and then jumping into
the Olympics. Nonetheless, it’s amazing. These are astounding young people. Off
the top of my head, these were my favorite stories:
- Dave Wiggins winning the Olympic road race was not a surprise, but it was a
strong validation of his win in the Tour de France. And it served further proof
of the resurgent strength of British cycling.
- If you think the Tour de France is obscure, then you should start following
track racing. Again, the British showed their strength. Wiggins began as a track
racer. It is very high speed, and very tactical. Position is so important that
opponents will literally stand still balancing their bikes daring their opponent
to take the lead. Great suspense followed by explosive power.
- Who didn’t fall in love with Des Moines-trained gymnast Gabby Douglas? The
whole woman's gymnastic team was delightful and determined.
- If Michael Phillips were a country instead of a person, he would rank
somewhere in the middle of all countries for all-time Olympic medals. And that
he did it this year, a bit under form, is all the more remarkable. He is
certainly going out on top.
- Missy Franklin is a winner: a winning swimmer with a winning personality and
winning smile. She is someone girls can model for years to come. And perhaps she
gave a bit of hope to her hometown of Aurora, Colorado.
- In women’s rowing, the U.S. won Gold under the leadership of 5'3" 106 pound
coxswain Mary Whipple. Even though she doesn’t paddle, Whipple led the
eight-person boat with her incredible understanding of teamwork and leadership.
No boat led by her has lost since 2006.
- Lo Lo Jones deserves credit for her emotional reply to a question about her
"failure" to win a medal. She courageously reminded us how hard it is to be an
Olympic athlete and that the years of work and dedication are not wasted for
want of a medal. Go girl!
- I wish I understood soccer better but I followed the U.S. Women’s loss to
Japan in the World Cup and their subsequent revenge at the Olympics. Great
teamwork, great athletes. Thank you Title IX.
- And finally, Oscar Pistorius, the South African sprinter, known as "the
fastest man on no legs." Pistorius has a double amputation but runs with
artificial limbs. He has made us re-think issues of ability and disability. A
true Olympian.
These were my favorite Olympic-sized moments. Write me if you have
others.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
REST:
Here’s an Olympics quiz. What do Olympic
athletes do better than you? "Well, everything", you say. Yeah, so it seems. But
one of the unseen things they do really well is rest.
I’ve written before
about the importance of rest. Of course, rest has to be resting FROM something.
But the day after a good workout is just as important as the day of the workout
itself.
I thought of this again after reading an email from my friend
Clayton. Clayton is a cycling student who trains for long-distance riding. As
part of his routine, he commutes to work almost every day. He wrote
this:
"Last week two things happened that reminding me of the importance of
rest. I bike to the office most days and one day something came up that caused
me to motor in instead of bike in. The following day I was noticeably rested and
felt amazingly good on the bike...the ride was even more glorious than most
days.
The other thing that ties into this rest idea is that my
bike computer stopped working and I rode a couple of days "blind." Wow! What a
joy to once again experience the pure pleasure of riding without looking down
every few moments to check this or that.
I may still commute 5
days of the week but at least one of those days I am going to turn off the
gadgets, take a new or less-traveled route, maybe leave a bit earlier in the
morning and ride a bit longer, just for the joy of it! No hurrying, pushing,
tracking, counting, etc, etc, etc. Just plain fun...how
glorious!"
Here is what was happening. You get faster by a cycle of
stress and repair. The stress happens in training and the repair happens on rest
days or easier rides. This is basic muscular adaptation. The stress of training
causes micro tears in your muscles. Your body then repairs the damage, but in a
miracle of nature, your body’s repair job makes the muscle stronger than it was
before, "just in case." This is a miracle. Why would you want to interfere with
it?
And yet that is what you do when you go hard day-after-day. Repair
doesn’t have to mean sitting on the sofa, by the way. Sometimes it means just
going for a ride and not "hammering."
Clayton’s experience is telling. If
you are feeling stale or flat, consider how long it has been since you enjoyed
an easy ride or a day off.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
FOOD:
An interesting new study addresses some
questions about the balance of exercise and diet needed to lose weight. It’s
pretty commonly accepted that a successful weight loss program should combine
elements of both.
New research speaks to how important nutrition can be.
It addresses why so many people who only work out remaining heavy. The bottom
line is that working out doesn’t provide us with an excuse to eat
poorly.
Researchers studied the Hazda tribe of hunter-gatherers in
Tanzania. Tribe members were fitted with GPS units to measure how many miles
were walked each day. They also were asked to drink water with tracers to
measure energy expenditure and metabolic rate. The researchers compared the
activity, energy expenditure and metabolic rates of tribe members with those of
the average Westerner.
It’s long been believed that a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle involves considerable physical activity and therefore burns many
calories, far more than the average American. Indeed, the Hazda men walked about
seven miles a day and the women about three. But they weren’t burning more
calories than Westerners. Their metabolic rate was about the same.
There
are several useful conclusions, it seems to me.
- Scientists concluded that "active, ‘traditional’ lifestyles may not protect
against obesity if diets change to promote increased caloric consumption." That
is, even active people will pack on pounds if they eat like most of us in the
West. Physical activity by itself is not going to make and keep you thin. This
is even more true as we get older.
- The metabolism of the tribesmen may, it seems to me, have been influenced by
the fact that they have performed the same hunter-gatherer activities nearly
every day of their lives. As the body adapts and gets more efficient, fewer
calories are burned from the same activity. The take-home here is that exercise
must be diversified. Your body gets used to doing the same thing all the time,
and metabolism slows because you become more efficient at frequently-repeated
tasks.
- Remember that exercise, even if it doesn’t cause weight loss by itself, has
other benefits in terms of aerobic improvement, functional daily movement, and
psychology.
SHINY NEW FLOORS BUT SOME
CLASSES CANCELLED:
Remember that the floors are
being resurfaced at the YMCA Healthy Living Center from August 22-28. As a
result, my classes will not be held on Friday 8/24 and Monday 8/27. Also the
floors are being re-surfaced at the Waukee Family YMCA. There it is being done
room by room so you may wish to check the full schedule. My class in Waukee will
not meet next Saturday 8/18.
QUOTE:
"Every
day may not be good, but there is something good in every day." Blue
Diamond Almonds slogan.
Thank you.
Bill Roach, NASM-CPT, CES.
Star 3 Lifetime Certified
Spinning Instructor
Certified Personal Trainer, National Academy of Sports
Medicine
Corrective Exercise Specialist, National Academy of Sports
Medicine
bill.roach@mchsi.com
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