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The Line

July 22, 2011 –

I wish I could tell you I plan out the week as to what I am going to blog about, but I dont. :) It depends on how much time I have, how the day went, and many times just what pops in my mind. As many of us in the US have been feeling this oppressive heat, this blog came to mind yesterday.

Thursday’s are my days for my brick workout. (I am training for a triathalon). A brick workout is a bike then a run. When I left on my bike at 6am, it was already 82 degrees. By the time I finished it was 89 degrees with a higher heat index. So my bike went well and I had a 10K run in front of me. My first 5 miles went well, but then I turned east into the sun and boy could I feel that heat. My heart rate had already been much higher than usual on this run and I was just pouring sweat. So, I stopped to walk. I haven’t stopped to walk in a long time. But you know what? I had crossed my line.

The only one who can determine your line is yourself. And it simply takes experience. When you first start out exercising again, I would suggest siding on conservative for the first couple of weeks. I know many people who start P90X or Insanity or some other extreme workout and want to to do it like the cast on the video right out of the box. Modify! If you get hurt, you are on the sidelines and that doesn’t help anyone.

Here is the advice I can give you to help you determine your line?

1) Get a good baseline for a couple of weeks. Don’t kill yourself. Once you have a baseline, you can build off of that. This is journey you are embarking on.

2) In order to know what you did last time, you need to write it down. I cannot stress this enough. Tony says it over and over in P90X and now I am going to say it. Write things down. Say whether it was hard. Write a down arrow if you need to decrease your weight the next time. Write how my pull-ups you did assisted vs. unassisted. Write it all doen and next time you’ll know!

3) Good Burn vs. Pain. Lactic Acid Build Up is a good thing! As ShaunT says in Asylum, “If it doesn’t burn, it don’t mean nothing!” (Or something like that). You need to push yourself to the burn. But if you feel your shoulder tweaking during pull-ups, be smart! You want to push to muscle fatigue, but dont hurt yourself! Don’t overextend your range.

4) Being sore is a good thing. Those first weeks, you can barely move. But even after more than 1.5 years, I still get sore. Be conscious of soreness vs. pain! If you are wincing from sharp pains, this is not good!

5) Tony says this over and over again. Don’t let your ego take control. When I used to go to a gym, I would crack up at these guys who would be kipping and twisting and wrenching their backs from trying to pull so much weight. Not only do they look like idiots, they are hurting themselves. And who are they trying to impress? Stop thinking about the numbers. Focus on form and then slowly increasing weight. Guess what? Someone will always be able to life more than you. So unless you are Mr. Universe, settle down. Push for that last rep, but if your form is seriously compromised, stop! Here is a good video on form.

6) As you get more comfortable in your workouts, start pushing yourself more. Most of us stop way before we should. Push out one more Fifer Scissor. Guess what? When you get through all of Ab Ripper X without stopping, you’ll do it every time after. Why? Because pushing ourselves is more mental than physical. Remember to Breath! Relax the muscles that are not engaged. And if you need to, let out some good ole’ fashion grunts. The further your go along in your fitness journey, the harder yo will push, and the more you will know where your line is.

One Response to “The Line”

  1. Coach Indo says:

    Excellent Post, Mike! I had to laugh at the thing about the Gym Rats who throw things around so much they are barely doing any work and think that they are like Atlas lifting the World on their Shoulders! I’ve actually laughed out loud at them in the gym before. It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to find something that would make me work hard and NOT require a gym…..

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