Category — Articles on Exercises

i’ve met with a trainer a few times now, and we’ve set up regular sessions of Mon / Fri for a month.  The major focus has been on the shoulders … getting them down, back and relaxed.  It requires quite a bit of focus to keep them in the right position, but it is getting easier and easier.  Each exercise also requires a little focus to keep the core tight and often when i focus too much on my shoulders (or whatever exercise we are on), i drop into a bit of a hunch … kind of hard sometimes to keep all things in-line at all times.

We played around with the ball a bit with some more core stability.  We did one where I sit on the ball and feet aren’t touching the ground, but also keeping my back straight up (as it is quite easy to lean back and maintain the balance).  Moved on to one where I am on all fours on the ball and then pull one knee off and pushing it straight back.  I think I will try one hand and one knee when I work on this at home.  My trainer also showed me one where you stand up on the ball … little bit advanced for me, but I tried it anyway … oh, and failed horribly    He told me his friend would just jump on the ball and squeeze it between his feet to get the balance … figured I’d try that … OOOPS … bounced right off the ball and landed on my back.  I kind of expected an epic failure so I didn’t hurt myself (although the potential for serious injury is definately there).

My trainer says he’s impressed with my balance.  Not sure how much of that is motivational BS, but i’ll take it.  i’m really enjoying this and having a trainer to talk me through stuff definately helps with the motivation.  Doing all the exercises with a goal of posture is more exciting for me than always trying to get to the next weight.  I think that will keep me motivated a lot longer than otherwise.

Today I had the priviledge of participating in a stress test.  The one that they ran me through is called the Bruce Protocol Treadmill Stress Test and follows the guidelines below.

Each stage is 3 minutes long and you simply go as long as you can.  I maxed out into the 5th interval (just after the 12m mark).  The incline is really hard to run on, so you are better off to try and speed walk for as long as you can.  I was informed that getting into the 12m mark is considered really good and better than average … good start, I suppose.

My blood pressure stayed pretty even throughout the test and my end result was 60%.  Peak athletes are between 70-90%.  The results don’t mean that much to me, so I will have to go back and ask some more questions.  All the stuff I’ve read up on have the results in ml/kg/min …

I’ve decided that I want to get in really good physical shape for next seasons Ultimate (or baseball – haven’t decided yet) play.  I’m 30, so it’s not as easy as it used to be and I may not be declining quickly, but the differences from when I was young (and invincible) are noticeable.

To start things off, I went to the physio today.  My list of ailments is not terribly large, but it does cover most of my body:

• shoulders are extremely tight – painful to sleep with my arms above my head and can’t lift anything laterally
• left leg tendon has been troublesome a lot this year
• PCL in right light is gone, but some strength can still be gained
• pulled my abdomen really bad last year and still feel it a bit

However, during this process of assessment, the following have also become [solvable] issues:

• upper back could use some posture adjustments
• hamstrings are extremely tight
• hips have limited rotation

So, my homework starts off with some stretching exercises:

• one leg up against the wall and other on the ground to stretch the hamstring & hip
• laying on the bed, bring my foot to my butt to stretch the quads
• arms against the door in a goal-post position to stretch the shoulders

There is still a bunch of other stuff, but I’m doing a full physical tomorrow and then seeing a trainer who will work on the next set of issues.