ZenTri Base Camp Update!

Camp 2012 is fantastic!  The location is unbelievable.  We scored a large house only half a mile from the beach, so we go running and riding along the shore.  With a 3-car garage, there's plenty of room for all the bikes.  We also have lots of spare rooms, so we offered them up for campers to stay overnight at the house to add to the camp feel.

Coach Adam and Jessi Stensland continue to impress as the coaches we added to the original crew.  They both are incredibly knowledgeble and their teaching skills are the best in the biz!

John beat me on the hill climb, and so did Ryan... on a tri bike!  It was awesome to have something to train for and I'm thankful to have it on the schedule to keep me focused during the Winter.

Christine is throwing down some awesome food and nutrition knowledge.  I am always so thankful that Coach Adam put us in touch years ago.  She changed how I see food forever!

More later...

- B

ZenTri Base Camp Agenda

Podcast - Happy New Year!

Click Here to Listen to the Show!

This episode is two hours of The Training Log!  I cover all kinds of training tips and tricks, how to do your best over the Holidays, how to recover from a major calf injury, and so much more.

I am writing this post at the kitchen table of ZenTri Base Camp!  The house is incredible!  It's only a few blocks from the San Diego beach and the weather is fantastic. (70 degrees and sunny.)  We will be opening up registration for next year earlier this time, so follow me on Twitter for more details.

Enjoy!

Click here to listen to or download the show!

Using Supersets to Save Time

There is a proven method of lifting weights to get stronger that looks something like this - Lift a weight a bunch of times until you can't do it anymore (called repetitions or "reps"), then take a break for a minute or so, then do it again.  Each time you a group of reps, that's called a "set."  Doing about 3 sets of 12-18 reps each works really, really well.

So, I'm at the gym last week, trying to cram in a weight lifting session over my lunch hour.  With the time it takes to drive there, back, and also pick up some food, I only actually have about 30 minutes to lift.  By the way, you have to say, "lift" instead of "lifting weights" to be one of the cool kids.  Just sayin'.  Anyway, I was unhappy with how I wasn't going to get in as much workout time as I wanted, so I tried something different.

Instead of doing the old routine, I did one set and then immediately dropped the weight by half and kept going until I couldn't go any more.  Half the weight as usual doesn't sound like much, but it's quite a bit if you're tired from just doing a set in the first place.  It seemed to work really well; my legs were so weak when I was done, I could barely wobble to the water fountain.

I talked to a weightlfting expert co-worker later that same day.  He told me the idea that I had "invented" was actually a well-known method called "supersets."  Anything where you do one exercise one muscle group and then immediately do something else (or the same thing) again is a superset.  Actually, a triathlon is probably the king of supersets, going right from the swim to the bike to the run.

A quick bit of research revealed why it is general practice to lift weights in multiple, separated sets; safety.  If you tried to lift all the weight you could all at once or in just a few reps, you would most likely injure yourself.  Doing less weight and spacing it out gives your muscles less initial load and time to warm up.  Still, the whole goal is to completely fatigue the muscle to failure, so you have to do multiple sets of that medium weight to get the job done.

The beauty of a superset is that you start off with a known weight load that you have already established is safe.  Injury problem solved, you drop that weight by half or even more as soon as you can't lift anymore of the first load.  This weight is so light, you could easily do it forever except that you are already a tired from lifting the first, heavier weight.  The result is your muscles are trembling and completely fatigued in about half the time it would take to do a series of sets using the classic method. 

Remember, the whole point is to fatigue the muscles until they are completely worn out.  However you get there is just a strategy, and strategies are all different based on the individual and time constraints.  Supersets are an established and very effective method to save time to get the job done.  Enjoy!

The Real Reason You Need Sleep

There are many reasons to sleep at night, but the one that might be most important is something most people do not know.  All day long, you keep adding more and more memories to your brain for it to keep up with.  Like a computer, your head can only keep up with so many things before it fills up, crashes, or both.

When you sleep, your are basically turning off all your input devices and giving your brain time to sort through all the data it has collected over the past day.  As it analyzes the information, it decides what to hold on to (write to the hard drive) and what to throw away.  Important stuff gets recorded for the long haul and the nominal junk gets tossed to make more free space for tomorrow's inputs.

The big picture is like this: If you don't get enough quality sleep, your brain gets full.  Your memory gets about as useful as a screen door on submarine.  The flustering for solid results also affects your mood and decision-making skills, making you not very fun to be around.

For example, if you can't remember where you parked your car or where you left your keys, your head is too full of junk and you need some sleep.  If you are grumpy and frustrated with others, you haven't sorted out your feelings overnight, decided what's really important in life, and need some sleep.

Now that you know all this, pay attention to yourself throughout the day and watch it work.  It's cool stuff!