The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/C9AIJ6Y After my recent mishap with my SI joint I took a few days off, and the joint has gotten much better so thankfully it must have been something minor. On Thursday I did my upper body workout, wearing my SI brace, followed by an easy ride, both of which were well tolerated. So yesterday I did my typical hard ride of about 2 1/2 hours, starting with a brisk tempo session of a bit over an hour, then throwing in some intervals, sprints, and on-bike strength training, and ending with a cooldown. That went well also so it seems I am back. Glad to have dodged a bullet! Yesterday’s ride here . Coyote Creek trail at Metcalf Park

https://ift.tt/2nstwNj Last night I was working on my recumbent and did something not too smart which aggravated my SI joint. I wanted to remove the front wheel to work on it, and I don’t have a test stand, so the best way to do that is flip the bike on its back. But I was in a hurry so just lifted the front of the bike off the ground and held it while I released the quick release and let the wheel drop out. While doing that I felt a big twinge in the SI joint and it was in steady pain after, making sleep challenging last night. By today it is still quite sore but a little better than yesterday. I’m hoping I just strained the joint itself or a ligament or muscle (like the piriformis) near it. I’ll take a few days off from exercising and hope it heals back up. I’m also wearing a special SI joint belt like the one I described here , which supports the joint. I can afford the enforced rest since I’ve been working out a lot lately. In retrospect what I did was equivalent to sitting in a c...

https://ift.tt/CwAbWfK A lot of authors are emphasizing maximum aerobic oxygen consumption (VO2max) as being important for healthy aging, so I thought I’d look into testing it. It’s expensive to have done professionally, but there are multiple self-tests available. I wanted a cycling one, and remembered there was one in the book Aerobics Program For Total Well-Being written by Dr. Kenneth Cooper (often called the “father of aerobics”) back in 1982, still available. Dr. Coope r turned 93 this year and is himself a good advertisement for healthy aging. He developed a 12 minute aerobics test for running originally, but in this book also gave tables for swimming and cycling. http://www.Amazon.com/books Dr Cooper used data from a large number of subjects of various ages to correlate the results of these tests to V02max. You can also just compare your results on the tests to his tables, which have categories “very poor” through “excellent”. Unfortunately, the data stops at the “60+” c...

https://ift.tt/RuLFZa1 I’ve been riding a lot lately though I’ve been remiss about reporting on it. Last Saturday, June 8th, was my 50th wedding anniversary. Karen and I had celebrated earlier in the week with some friends and just the two of us Saturday night. We also plan to go on a short local celebratory trip and in the fall a second honeymoon trip. So Sunday I slept in an did a shorter ride though I usually do a long hard ride that day. Monday I did my strength workout then an easy ride, and Tuesday I did my group ride. I had a doctor’s appointment up in Campbell and left my SI joint belt there. I like to wear it when going on longer rides on an upright, plus I knew Tuesday’s ride was relatively flat so I’d be able to keep up on my recumbent, so I rode that instead. It was a nice ride but got hot at the end (the high for the day was 96 F or 36 C). Fortunately it cooled off the next day and has stayed cooler. Wednesday I did a short but hard ride, with sprints and intervals, and ...

https://ift.tt/kaGRSAH http://www.Amazon.com/books I recently read Tough Broad by Caroline Paul. She is an extremely active Woman herself in her late 50s, including adventure sports like hang gliding and flying gyrocopters. She interviews and participates in a variety of activities with older women, including someone who still participates in boogie boarding at the age of 96. Caroline’s main thesis is that outdoor adventures help us to age healthier and happier, which I agree with wholeheartedly. I think her biggest surprise was that “tamer” activities like walking, birdwatching, and boogie boarding help just as much as “wilder” ones- It is the camaraderie and time spent in nature that matters most. That has been my experience also. I highly recommend this book as an entertaining and inspiring read. Also don’t miss this youtube video mentioned in the book: “ Mama Went Wing-Walking “!

https://ift.tt/gYBo4xU Clarence Bass had interesting advice about e-bikes I hadn’t thought of in one of his June articles . This is based on the article “What you need to know about electric bicycles” in the June issue of Harvard Health Newsletter. Many people who are turning to e-bikes as we get older. Some, like myself, have been riding regular bikes and maybe want a little help to extend range or increase our speed so we can keep up with a group. And they are great for that purpose as we already have bike handling skills. But there’s a segment that I hadn’t thought of: people who haven’t been riding, perhaps for decades, and turn to e-bikes as a fun way to exercise. There’s a danger here, because your bike handling may be rusty but right away you’re on a machine that allows you to go fast. This is especially true in the US, where we allow class 3 e-bikes that can go up to 28 mph (45 kph). To avoid getting in over your head and perhaps crashing, it is best to start slowly, keeping y...

https://ift.tt/apF3JYH Friday I did a little over 2 1/2 hours on my recumbent out Coyote Creek trail to Blossom Hill road and back, at a brisk tempo pace. I noticed I was getting cranky because my heart rate wasn’t quite up to what it was supposed to be. So I put my monitor in my pocket and enjoyed the rest of the ride more. Tech is great as long as it doesn’t distract you from enjoying the activity while it’s happening. I think I’ll try keeping it in my pocket in the future. I can get as nerdy as I want with the data later after the ride is over. On Saturday I did a little over an hour on local dirt with my upright. It was fun using higher electric-assist on the roads to zoom faster, then using less assist while standing or on dirt. Friday’s ride is posted on Strava here , Saturday here . On Friday’s ride I saw that our Organic grass trimmers are back