Bikeboy

I’ve be doing interval training for about a month. I do 4 mins at 90% and then 6 mins of slow. Repeat 4 to 5 times. Four and five are generally cut short because of the effort involved. So why do I say they’re working? Well I have a 22 mile loop that I like to do. 2 miles flat then 500 feet in 1 mile and the rest gentle rolling. For the last 2 weeks every time I go for this ride I have had an increase of .3 mph. The average has gone from 13.8 to 14.5. Most of the gain is on climbing the hill. Not much of a hill climber so gains there are really appreciated. So I’ll keep this up until the results taper off. I have a friend thats the same age who can do this loop at 18, my goal is to keep up with him.

I made it through the weekend. Got new cycle shorts for my birthday and had to try them out on sunday. Reminded me of getting new Keds sneakers. I was flying. About 20 miles in a squall came through, even with that I made great time.
So monday I did lifting. The usual round of rows, bench press and squat. Then I went back and did an extra 5 reps of each, resting for 20 seconds between each rep. Yep, by the next day I burned.
Today was interval training. 4min X 5 with 6 min of recovery. Weird to watch a puddle of sweat on the concrete floor. Man this stuff is hard!

Had friends over for diner last night. Seafood, grilled sweet potatoes and salad. And of course wine. Nothing outrageous but I knew that I didn’t really want to get on the scale today. Its up a bit, damn. So today I’m going for a long ride. Maybe a couple of hours. That way tomorrow the scale might be down to what it was yesterday.
My weight is coming down slowly. I can live with that. Might take another 6 months to lose the 15 lbs that remain but so what? At least they’ll be gone. The rationalist in me says that the total will be 20 some odd pounds, which is a lot. And the results could be for the rest of my life! So I get to capitalize on it for a long time. Who am I kidding, I want it gone now! I want to wake up and fit into the old jeans that I have. I could do it by being better about my diet. Is it worth it? Spend the next 2 months always being hungry and giving up on the foods that I love.
It would be easier if I knew that there was some added muscle with the weight loss that I’ve had. I’m lifting more that I ever have. Some of my records go back 5 years so its easy to track that. What I don’t know is if there has been a shift in muscle mass. Maybe I’ll give myself a birthday present and get an immersion test this week. Then get another one in a month to check for change. Hmm, need to look into that.

So I’ve been lifting for about 3 months now. I have a small routine of bench, squats and rows. I’ve actually been making progress but I’ve only just started to keep a log. So why am I going to try changing things? We all know the answer, because its there. I read about rest pause and thought that it sounded interesting. So today thats what I’m going to do. I have two techniques that I want to try. One is to lay on the floor so that your arms can rest on the floor. The other is to use the machine.

Pros and Cons:
The Floor: I can do the floor one at home where I currently do my workout. No commute time needed! But no spotter so I have to be careful of the weights.
vs
The Machine: I would have to wait until my son goes swimming. There is a gym there but I am bound by the times that my son is swimming. Lots of support though, and I can really max out the weights.

Any opinions? Home style or industrial machine?

Nope, didn’t do it. Not yet this year at least. Went for a quick 20 mile dash yesterday. Managed to maintain a 14 mph pace, which is better than the previous run by .2 mph. While I felt good about it my friend did go for a 116 mile ride yesterday and he maintained 17 mph. GodDamnItToHell!! I was able to do that just a few years ago and then I let it go. Ah well, maybe by the end of summer. No, not maybe, I am going to do that!

Welcome to the Bodybuilding.com BodyBlogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!