My lower body was sore and achy after yesterday's workout, but I guess that means it was good.  Today, I did an arms workout -- biceps, triceps, forearms, abs, rowing and some finishing stretches.  I felt surprisingly fresh and strong, given yesterday's tough lower body routine.  So far, I am enjoying my foray into body building workouts.

Breakfast was a green smoothie (2 oranges, banana, 1 cup of mixed frozen berries, 1 ounce ground flax seeds, 1/2 ounce of ground sesame seeds, 1.5 ounces of frozen organic kale and 3 ounces of organic baby spinach.  Lunch was a whole wheat tortilla stuffed with hummus, brown rice, black beans, onion and some mixed salad greens.  Dinner was a salad with quinoa, fresh snap beans, peppers and an ear of corn.  Dates and almonds with a banana for dessert.

Today was a lower body workout day in my home gym.  I started with 12 minutes of hill walking on the treadmill followed by a fairly tough routine of squats, hamstring curles, lunges (forward and sideways), toe raises, Abductor strength, lower and upper abs and stretches.  I finished with another 12 minutes of treadmill hill walking.  Definitely spent at the end.  Click on the image to the left to see details.

Breakfast was a green smoothie (banana, 2 oranges, ginger root, 1 TBSP flax seeds, 1/2 TBSP sunflower seeds, 1 cup frozen kale, 1 cup baby organic spinach).  Lunch was a whole wheat tortilla with hummus, black beans, baked potato, 2 cups of romaine.  Dinner was brown rice with steamed broccoli and squash.  Dessert - a banana and some almonds and a medjool date.

My favorite training rides start at the Budweiser Brewery in Cartersville and wind through beautiful countryside with very little traffic.  All the routes from the Brewery are hilly, about 45-55 feet per mile, depending on the course.

Today's ride started at the Brewery and went to White, GA, about 4.5 miles from the start.  I then did a 21 mile loop starting and ending in White, and then back to the start, for a total of 50 miles.  It was a very hot day, in the high 80's/low 90's with high humidity. I felt strong for the first 35 miles or so, and then the heat and the hills started to wear me down.  The total climbing for the day was about 2700 feet.

The day started early with a green smoothie (2 oranges, banana, 1 TBSP ground flax seeds, 2 medjool dates, 2 large leaves of organic kale, and 3 cups of organic baby spinach.  I ate lots of dates and a banana during and after the ride, together with a cold peach, which tasted great at rides end.  For lunch I made a whole wheat tortilla with hummus, a mashed baked potato, Vidalia onion, one cup of shredded baby spinach and one cup of shredded romaine.  Dinner was a great vegan dish created from a Gourmet Magazine recipe -- couscous, baby carrots, mushrooms, onions and raisins.  I ate a banana and about 2 ounces of nuts (walnuts and almonds) for dessert.

T

This bodybuilder, Richard Sullivan, is in his late 60s, I believe.  Here he shares his philosophy of fitness into old age, a philosophy that is identical to mine.

Today was a chest/shoulder/back workout.  In my journal to the left, I present the workout in mindmap format.  The exercises highlighted in green are the exercises for today.  I am going easy until I get back into the swing of things on weight training.  The workout took about 1 1/2 hours including 20 minutes of indoor rowing and stretching at the end of the workout.  I felt good, and look forward to increasing the intensity of this workout.



I am trying to cut back a bit on fruit sugar, and increase complex carbs.  For breakfast this morning I had a green smoothie (2 oranges, 2 cup mixed frozen berries, 1 TBSP ground flax seeds,  1/2 TBSP pumpkin seeds, 2 large kale leaves, 2 cups of spring salad mix.  For lunch I had a whole wheat tortilla with a cooked white potato, hummus, chopped peppers, chopped onion and 2 cups of spring salad mix.  Ate the tortilla with some greek olives.  For dinner, we had potato/squash soup, whole wheat bread with almond butter and low sugar jam.  Bananas (2), a peach, some dates and a few almonds for dessert.

Rode with a friend today on the Silver Comet Trail.  We went along at a leisurely pace because he is recovering from a broken leg.  It was very humid and uncomfortable, but he had a nice ride nevertheless.  He rode my Ti Rex recumbent and seemed to enjoy it.  The Silver Comet is a nice place to ride on a hot day, because the trail has plenty of shade.

Before leaving for the ride this morning, I drank a green smoothie (two oranges, a banana, flax seeds, two medjool dates, kale and spinach).  Ate a couple of bananas during and after the ride, and had some more dates after the ride.  For lunch I had a whole wheat tortilla with left over spaghetti with kale, hummus, onions, peppers and romaine lettuce/spinach mix.  Ate the sandwich with some greek olives.  For dinner we had a romaine/spinach salad with cooked lentils, yellow tomatoes, greek olives, and baby carrots.  Also, I ate a slice of whole wheat bread with almond butter and low sugar berry jam.  A banana and medjool date for dessert.

First time in a long time that I have done two strength workouts back to back.  I have decided starting today to record my workouts in mindmap format, because it is easy to record the exercises, and easy to display on my blog.  To see the exercises for the day double click on the image.

I have also decided to try three workouts per week focusing on different areas of the body as follows:


Day 1 - Chest/Shoulders/Back/Abs
Day 2 - Lower Body/Abs
Day 3 - Arms/Wrists/Abs

Today was an Arms/Wrists/Abs workout with ten minutes of rowing warmup and warmdown.

Today was a gym workout day.  Changed my routine to a more cycling oriented one trading off some single muscle group exercises for more movement/multiple core group exercises, however, I did retain some of the previous exercises:

10 minutes stationary rowing machine
2 circuits:
Smith Machine pullups 10 x 85
Squats on the Frank Zane Leg Blaster  12 x 125 (see picture)
Dumbbell one arm pull-ups 10 x 42 each side
Side lunges 10 x 25
Dumbbell side raises 10 x 30 (two 15 pound weights)
Pushups 12
Hamstring Curles 12 x 50
Toe Raises on the Frank Zane Leg Blaster 20 x 120
Finished with 10 minutes rowing and some stretching


To start the day I had an orange and a date before the workout.  After the workout I had a green smoothie (apple juice, 2 medjool dates, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup frozen mixed berries, frozen banana, 1 ounce of English walnuts, 3 ounces of baby organic spinach.  For lunch I had a whole wheat tortilla with hummus, avocado, celery, brown rice, cooked lentils.  For dinner I had some potato/broccoli soup, olive bread and some more hummus.  Banana for dessert.

It promised to be a very hot day, so Gary and I met at the Budweiser Brewery at 8 am and did a short leisurely ride through the countryside.  We did about 30 miles.  Gary is recovering from surgery so we took it easy.  Nice ride over beautiful country roads.  Climbing totaled about 1300 feet.

I made a green smoothie last night made up of apple juice, peach, orange, banana and a couple dates plus ground flax, sunflower and sesame seeds with a few ounces of organic baby spinach.  Took some fruit in a cooler including bananas, dates and oranges.  Drank the smoothie before ( and a little after) the ride and ate some fruit during the ride and some after.  Returned home early afternoon and had a stuffed whole wheat tortilla with hummus, avocado, peppers, celery, carrots, a little brown rice, a little lentil salad, and some organic spring mixed greens.  For dinner we had whole wheat pasta with chickpeas and spinach.  Had some fruit for dessert.   Click on the image to the left for nutrition details.

Stone Mountain Park is one of my favorite places to ride.  This is a great place to do hill repeats because the steep climbs come one after another.  None of the climbs are terribly long, but they range from 7-12 percent grades, with one that is as steep as 16 percent at the top and about 1/4 mile long.

There are two loops that I can do, one is 5 miles long with about 350 feet of climbing and the other is 7.5 miles long with about 600 feet of climbing.  Today I did the 7.5 mile loop three times and the five mile loop roughly 2.5 times for a total of 37 + miles with 2800 feet of climbing.


It was a very hot day and I really wilted at the end, although for the first 22-23 miles I felt pretty good.

Nutrition today was good.  I ate only fruit before during and after the ride....bananas, medjool dates and watermelon, which I carried in a cooler in my van.  I returned home about 2 pm and had a whole wheat tortilla stuffed with hummus, avocado, cooked lentils, romaine, baby spinach, onions and peppers.  For dinner I had brown rice with tofu, broccoli,  and yellow peppers, with a banana for dessert.   Click on the image to the left for nutrition details.

Changed to a new cycling strength workout today, incorporating some Lance Armstrong exercises that I saw on a YouTube video:

Rowing machine - 20 minutes
Smith Machines Cleans - 2x10x75
Forward Lunges - 2x10x75
One arm DB pullups - 2x10x50
Side lunges - 2x10x25
Calf Toe Raises - 1x20x120
Hamstring Curles - 2x12x55
Crunches - 2x25x7.5

This is an intense workout.  It will take me some time to get to 3 reps for these exercises.

The picture was taken at my favorite Silver Comet Trail rest stop just west of the Pumpkinhead Trestle.  I did a 50 mile ride in quite humid weather, but I felt pretty good the entire ride.  Since I have reinstalled my dual density foam seat pad, the bike is lots more comfortable.  I trade-off firmness for cushiness, which seems to work better for me, especially over longer distances.  The firm Zotefoam pad feels 'racier', but clearly is not as comfortable.  At this point, I opt for comfort.  

My training is going well, I like the four day a week cycling routine with Sundays and Thursdays in the gym working on core strength.  One rest day per week, usually Tuesday.

I was in a hurry to get going this morning, so I quickly ate some watermelon before leaving the house.  I brought bananas, medjool dates, peaches and an orange with me in my cooler.  Ate a couple of bananas and several dates on the say to the Silver Comet Trail.  Then ate several more dates and a banana during the ride.  Ate a peach and another banana and some more dates after the ride.

Upon returning home, I had a green smoothie composed of baby organic spinach, a banana, some fresh strawberries and blueberries, frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, and ground seeds (flax, sesame and sunflower).  Ate some almonds and brazil nuts with the smoothie.

For dinner I had a salad with cooked lentils, grapes, cucumber, green peppers and mixed salad greens.  Had some more fruit for dessert.  Calorie totals for the day was about 3200 with a breakdown of 13% fat, 79% carbohydrates and 8% protein.   Double click on the picture to the left to see the complete nutritional breakdown.

Rode at Stone Mountain Park with two friends.  We went at a moderate pace and the weather was really nice.  It has cooled down nicely, and we got an early start.  Stone Mountain has a five mile very hilly loop that we did 6 times.  This is comparable to a hill repeat workout, except we didn't go hard.

I am moving more towards a raw vegan diet, with about 60-70% of food volume from raw foods.  Today I had a green smoothie before the ride (1 cup mixed frozen berries, frozen banana, two dates, orange, 1 TBSP ground flax seeds, 1 TBSP mixed ground pumpkin and sesame seeds, 1 cup of kale leaves, and 1 cup of spinach.  For lunch after the bike ride, I had a huge salad at Sweet Tomatoes, with a baked potato and 1/2 cup vegetable soup.  For dinner I had a veggie rollup with a large whole wheat organic tortilla stuffed with broccoli, hummus, carrots, onion, peppers and celery.

I really like these gym workouts.  My upper body is beginning to firm up and my strength increasing.

The problem with endurance cycling alone is the lack of attention to total fitness.  With these workouts I am gaining upper body and core strength that should help my cycling as well.

The nice thing is that when it is hot out, I can simply workout at home in air conditioned comfort, or go to a gym.  My plan is to gradually increase the reps within this circuit and then when I reach my max in reps slowly increase the weight of each exercise.  Two times per week seems good, but I am tempted to increase to thrice weekly.  We'll see.

Weight after workout - 167

This morning I had a green smoothie with an apple, banana, orange, ground flax seeds, kale, spinach, ginger root, cinnamon, cloves, and 2 dates. For lunch I had a whole grain tortilla with chopped broccoli, peppers, hummus, celery, carrots, last nights spaghetti/marinara and some cherries for dessert.  For dinner I had a vegetable bean soup and whole wheat bread with almond butter and berry jam.  Dessert was a banana and some cherries.

I woke early today so I could get in at least 50 miles before noon.  Weather was cloudy with a drizzle, which increased when I reached the Silver Comet Trail.  The forecast said 10 % chance of rain, not bad odds, so I persevered.  The rain stopped about 15 miles into the ride, although the sun didn't peak out until I was 1 mile from the finish.  The trail was wet, but I enjoyed the ride.  Did 50 miles to and from the Pumpkinhead Tressel trailhead (pictured here) of the Silver Comet.   Given the weather, I was surprised that so many riders where on the Trail.  Ran into one other recumbent rider on a Cruzbike Quest.  We talked about Cruzbikes before I sped up and headed for home.
I rode my Rans X-Stream, which is nicely dialed in and comfortable.

Howard Veit

July 16 Nutrition

CRON-O-Meter

cronometer.com

Nutrition for today: 3457 Calories consumed, 2432 burned. 90% of nutrient targets achieved

 

Overate a little today, even with the 50 miles bike ride.  A little short on vitamin E.  Will add some sunflower seeds to morning smoothie.

Wanted to do 50+ miles today, but the threatening rain moved me to Stone Mountain Park where I can do 5 miles laps.  I ride by my car after each lap, so if there is inclement weather, I am home quickly.

During the 4th lap, it started to rain, so I stopped.  Even 20 miles at Stone Mountain Park is a decent workout because I get about 350 miles of climbing per lap.  Rode the Ti-Rex.  The Zotefoam cushion I put on the CCK carbon seat is still not that comfortable.

Stone Mountain is a great place to ride, especially if I have only a couple of hours to ride.

Howard Veit

CRON-O-Meter

cronometer.com

Nutrition for today: 3209 Calories consumed, 912 burned. 92% of nutrient targets achieved

I haven't been doing a good job of keeping up to date with my training blog.  On July 1, I made the decision to cross train with weights, at least during July and August.  My plan is to do 4 bike training sessions plus two circuit training sessions in my home gym.  I have done four sessions in the gym this month and am up to 3 circuits per session.  Feels good to be back in the gym, and it provides some relief away from the heat of summer in Atlanta.