Keep Fit Club - ALL exercise types!

[yesteryeargames]

Is it best to do weights before cardio ? I have been warming up with cardio and them finishing off at the end of my gym session with weights. Which would offer best results ?

[charlesr]

You'd be able to do more hardcore weights if you had only done warm up cardio before. So if your aim is strength (or just bulking up) then cardio afterwards. You always need to do something before though otherwise you'll increase risk of injuring something.

[Taka]

I was flicking through my copy of the London Marathon Final Instructions magazine and spotted me in a crowd shot from last year's race!



(I'm in the yellow vest and sunglasses)

All getting very real again...

[charlesr]

Great pic!
If it's hot like before, remember your sunblock.

Went running with the Chichester runners this evening. 6km of interval / hill work. Good fun. Not fast enough though really.

[Taka]

Do you think you'll go back and train with them or even join them? I ran with a local club a couple of times about 18 months ago and whilst they were very friendly and welcoming, it simply wasn't for me.

[charlesr]

I did enjoy the tussle on the last interval. Sizing up the fastest runner - I could tell he was pushing it and the little surges, testing each other. Nice bit of competition. I let him "win" though, but then stamped my authority by chatting away not too out of breath There was another runner in the leading group who normally does 36m 10k, but he had an achilles issue so wasn't running as fast as normal.

If it had just been me on my own, I would have done either faster on all intervals, or more of them.

So, I think the competitive element would be good for me. But I'd only go once a week. However, in 2 weeks time, the Wednesday night summer trail running season starts which I'm sure I'd love, but the whole point of joining the club was to meet people and run with them, whereas the trail run is "turn up any time between 4:30 and 6:30 and start running, following sawdust markers", so I'd need to figure out the fast runners and arrange to start with them. I'm not joining a club to run on my own! It will be good to learn some new trails though.

There are other nights with different trainings, but not all on nights I can make, so i need to a get a handle on it all before signing up. I think they wanted me though - they were muttering about wishing I was in their A-team for next wednesday's final round of the Chichester Corporate Challenge, a 4.5km race around the city centre. I just checked and they are accepting entries for A-team (sub 40 10km, with expected sub 18min race time) runners on the day, so I'm considering that.

Racing on Strava has got me hooked on racing again....

http://www.strava.com/challenges/strava-races-10k-3

Something I did notice was that I'm running along almost silently, whereas a lot of the others were loudly thumping on to the ground, especially when the pace picked up, whereas I got even quieter when faster...

[Taka]

Deep down inside, I know that I should join a club to improve further, but whilst I'm still improving under my own steam I'll park the idea. Like you and Moby, I've been approached by a couple of local clubs at Parkrun to join their ranks. I'm in the awkward situation though where I'm good friends with many at the different clubs and I don't want to be seen to be favouring one over another by joining one. I know of some people who belong to two clubs, but that tends to be due to geography where they run with one club during the week due to work location and run with another club at weekends.

[charlesr]

http://www.strava.com/activities/122333985?fb_source=708

Obliterated a segment time to get King of the Mountain (been trying for ages to get close to it and now 30 seconds quicker!) Definitely getting fitter However, got a puncture and had to run the last 8km in rigid sole SPD shoes (pushing the bike) That is seriously hard.

[Terry Tibbs]

New PB on 5km! @ 21:57

The last km @ 4:10 was a killer. Seriously thought I might upchuck. Well chuffed I hit sub 22 though, as that was the target. :-D

[charlesr]

If you thought you were going to be sick, then you are reach hero levels of commitment!

[charlesr]

I went to the new CrossFit gym in Chichester on Saturday for a fitness assessment.
After a warm up, I ran 4x100m (no stopping at the ends) with a 9kg ball balanced on my shoulder. This is hard - you can't lean forwards or it rolls off.
As expected, did ok in this. 3rd fastest time they've seen 1:27
Then came the dips, pull ups, narrow pressups, squats and situps.
I did ok on dips and narrow pressups, but found the pullups and situps very tough. Situps hurt my back and pullups I only managed a miserable 3.
Overall though, I was apparently pretty fit, which surprised me.
Really enjoyed it and if I was going to join a gym it would be this one. They don't allow unsupervised gym time either, so you are always being coached, be it in a group or on your own.

[Terry Tibbs]

If you thought you were going to be sick, then you are reach hero levels of commitment!

Yeh, didn't feel too heroic at the time! Only a few weeks ago I struggled to hold my target pace for 10mins let alone double that. So, all the interval training I've been doing is definitely paying off.

If the Jack Daniels calculator is a reliable guide, I've been pushing too hard with my intervals. I backed off slightly in today's session (4:18/km instead of 4:00/km) and held each rep for longer (2-3mins instead of 90sec). Will see if this improves things.

Nice work out, by the way. I would definitely prefer having some guidance in the gym instead of the aimless shifting between machines I normally do -- not that I've had a membership for some time.

[charlesr]

And there are no weights machines in CrossFit. It's just climbing ropes, kettlebells, tyres, bars, rowers, freeweights, etc.

Have a read of this for 5k training. I haven't really done much structured training, so no idea if it's any good.

[yesteryeargames]

Does anyone know any good low fat recipes for chocolate whey protein cake?

My birthday is coming up and want to treat myself with something I won't feel too guilty about . Thanks

[charlesr]

I don't know any of those recipes, buy why don't you just get a normal delicious cake and just have 1 slice and ensure family has the rest?