The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/3qkZcNh Friday I did a long brisk ride, which was very enjoyable as the temperature has dropped considerably since we were having triple-digits. Saturday I did an upper body workout followed by a shorter ride. Yesterday I did a fast long ride with some intervals and on-bike strength training. This felt great, I seem to be fully recovered and ready to keep training hard. Surprisingly, I still tested Covid positive Yesterday but my Wife is now negative. I caught it a couple of days after her so maybe I’ll test negative a couple of days later. I was surprised at my test as I pretty much have no symptoms. Friday’s ride is posted here , Saturday’s upper body workout here , ride here . Yesterday’s ride here . The hills are really dry but at least it’s cooler here now Our natural air conditioning, the fog, kicked in on Saturday

https://ift.tt/2t1UBMC https://www.everydayhealth.com/7-tips-for-getting-back-into-a-workout-routine-if-the-pandemic-disrupted-yours/ Yesterday was my first harder ride since testing positive for Covid. I had retested positive after 5 days (which was two days ago), so I looked up when it was safe to exercise. The advice reminded me of what I’ve read in the past about other infections like the cold- it’s basically ok if your symptoms are improving and you don’t have a fever. Back off if symptoms get worse while working out. So I went for an easy ride but threw in some short intervals and on-bike strength training. This went fine, and I felt great after. I’ll keep easing back in like this, maybe next hard bike session (next Sunday) I’ll go a little longer and throw in longer intervals.

https://ift.tt/xlJQDwU The day after I got back from Phoenix Karen found out that her friend, whom she’d spent time with over the weekend, tested positive for Covid. Karen tested positive the next day (last Wednesday) but I was negative. I started having cold-like symptoms the next day and tested positive on Friday. No exercise since then while we fight this off. Our symptoms have been mostly like a head cold, coughing, head congestion, and the sniffles. Either we’ve been lucky or that is what the latest strain is like. I started feeling better yesterday, I’ll wait till the 5 day mark on Tuesday to retest. Karen will retest tomorrow. Fingers crossed… I’m going to start very easy exercise like slow short bike rides just for relaxation. Covid Cases in Our County. A bit of an upward blip right now but tiny compared to all-time figures https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-cases-and-deaths

https://ift.tt/EZYTrps I got back from Phoenix Monday night, great trip. The heat wasn’t so bad, we got up every day at 5:30 and went for about an hour long walk or hike in the desert. The temp was low 90s at that time, which is pleasant because it was so dry. With My Brother and Nephew Tom. Hmmm, the guy on the left has a bit of a paunch, need to work on that! My wife unfortunately caught Covid, presumably over the weekend because I tested negative. So now I am in caregiving mode for a while so she can rest up. I cut my ride short yesterday but still got some high intensity in, “Tabata” intervals and on-bike strength training. I felt great afterwards. Posted on Strava here .

https://ift.tt/jon4xh5 I’m down in Phoenix for a few days for my brother’s big 75th It’s pretty hot down here but only a few degrees more than it’s been at home lately and it’s not bad. We went for a desert hike at 5:30 and it was pleasant. South Mountain Park  in Phoenix

https://ift.tt/U51jshr http://www.Amazon.com/books I just read The Barbell Prescription by Dr. Jonathan Sullivan and Coach Andy Baker. Dr. Sullivan is a “double doctor”, with a PhD in neurophysiology in addition to an MD. I found out about his work by seeing the video “ Up-Lift-ing: Strong at Any Age ” about John Claassen, who did his first powerlifting competition at age 92, deadlifting 235 lbs! Dr. Sullivan was his coach, and John trains at Dr. Sullivan’s Greysteel facility in Michigan (I love that name). After seeing this inspirational video I found out Dr. Sullivan had written a book and had to check it out. The first part of the book is the why of strength training, the remainder is exactly what movements are recommended, and detailed instructions on performing them. The first part argues strongly and convincingly that strength training should be central to any anti-aging exercise prescription. There is a lot of emphasis on cardio training as we age, and strength training...

https://ift.tt/K1QTAN7 I seem to finally have my SI joint and piriformis muscle under control so I can do my strength workouts and riding pretty much full tilt. I am attempting to make sure I keep my cadence higher so I don’t push too high gears on the bike which avoids aggravating the piriformis as I did about a week ago. I have also started to ramp up stretching of the piriformis and strength training for the SI joint at night. It feels great to be back, and I will definitely treat this as a wake-up call to take care of my weak spots. On Friday I did a hard ride, starting out with a brisk 70 minute tempo on Coyote Creek Trail, then throwing in some intervals and on-bike strength training. This was a challenging workout but I felt great after. On Saturday I did my upper body workout, both arm-cycling and resistance bands in the garage. I was able to up the resistance on all the upper body movements which felt good, like I’m making progress. Sunday I did another hard ride, similar t...

https://ift.tt/KeVN7hO Day #1 of a 1 year journey to excellent health

https://ift.tt/KeVN7hO Part of the 9 line trail in Salt Lake City The non-profit organization People For Bikes recently released its annual ranking of the bike-friendliness of cities. What I find most interesting was a discussion of cities that improved the most last year, including Salt Lake City, Utah . The city did some major infrastructure improvements including the 9 line trail along an abandoned railway and improved bike lanes on major streets. But what really caught my eye was that the city reduced the speed limit along 420 miles of local roadways from 25 to 20 mph, in an attempt to lower pedestrian fatalities ( a local engineer said “Only about 4% of the crashes in our city involve bicycles and pedestrians, but they make up more than 46% of all the fatalities that we have here”). A local advocacy organization “ sweet streets ” has pushed for this with the phrase “20 is plenty”. I like this for two reasons. The first is that evidence shows that the likelihood of a fatali...

https://ift.tt/Qn0gWZz Later in the day on Friday after my long hard ride, my back in the vicinity of my right SI joint got painful. It even bothered me sitting down and laying down so interfered with my sleep Saturday night. It has never happened before that this was precipitated by a bike ride, my back usually doesn’t mind those, especially on my recumbent. I was also getting some sciatica-like pain running down my right leg, which I have not had in a while. This made me think this might be the piriformis muscle, not the SI joint, because if it becomes spasmed it can press on the sciatic nerve crossing under it. Reading up on “piriformis syndrome and si joint”, I found that these two conditions can get mixed up as the piriformis crosses the si joint so symptoms can be similar and in the same area of the body. https://www.lower-back-pain-answers.com/piriformis-syndrome.html . The piriformis muscle is attached at the hip and the sacrum. When it tightens it helps stabilizes the SI j...