The Time Crunched Athlete | Workout Wednesdays

Workout Wednesdays – Mini Circuit Training

By Rob | Published August 22, 2012

Workout Wednesdays are where I post individual workouts that are tailored to fit into a 30min window. The idea is that these are short enough to do during a lunch hour with time for getting ready before and a quick shower afterward. Workouts will include as many sports as I can come up with and if you have any suggestions for new workouts or sports, please let me know in the comments or e-mail!

This week’s workout: Mini Circuit Training

Equipment Required:

  • Running shoes
  • An open area to lift in
  • Somewhere to run in the same area
  • Stopwatch or other clock with seconds
  • Free-weights or medicine ball Continue reading »
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Workout Wednesday – Go Lift!

By Rob | Published August 16, 2012

So this week for Workout Wednesday I suggest you hit the gym. This could be a company weight room, some free-weights at home or an actual fitness center. Be sure to cover all parts of your body when you lift. Focusing only on one area will give you good results there, but you’ll end up strong in one part and weak everywhere else. To get a good, all-over fitness, focus on hitting as many areas of your body as possible.

I lifted yesterday and did bench press (arms/chest), squats (legs), crunches (abs/core), calf raises (lower legs), tricept pulls (upper arms) and crossovers (arms and back). When trying to be in shape for running, cycling, swimming or any other sport, you don’t want to just focus on a single area. When swimming, you need your whole body. When running, a solid core and upper body helps keep you steady. When cycling, you’re pushing hard with your legs, but your core and abs are doing work too.

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Workout Wednesdays – Lap Swimming

By Rob | Published August 8, 2012

Workout Wednesdays are where I post individual workouts that are tailored to fit into a 30min window. The idea is that these are short enough to do during a lunch hour with time for getting ready before and a quick shower afterward. Workouts will include as many sports as I can come up with and if you have any suggestions for new workouts or sports, please let me know in the comments or e-mail!

 

This week’s workout: 1200yd Swim Intervals

Equipment Required:

  • Swimsuit
  • Goggles
  • Stopwatch or other clock with seconds
  • Lap swimming pool (This assumes a 25yd pool, which is fairly common. If you have a longer or shorter pool, adjust the times according to your pace) Continue reading »
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Workout Wednesday: Pre-Race Taper

By Rob | Published July 25, 2012

If you’re like me and you are training for races, at some point you have to start preparing for that race with a taper period. This weekend is my main race of the season: Giant Eagle Multisport Festival Olympic Triathlon. Depending on your race, fitness, etc, your taper might be a couple days or it might be longer. Since everyone is different, this week’s workout isn’t really a traditional workout. The basic idea of tapering is to give your body a chance to recover and rest to hit your maximum potential on race day. Here are some ideas for tapering during your prep for your race:

Running:

  • Try short easy runs that challenge you but don’t leave you feeling 100% drained
  • Go for a longer, race-distance run at about 2/3 race pace or slower.

Cycling:

  • Long, easy paced rides are great to get your legs moving but not wear you out too much. Use this is a last chance to tweak your setup on the bike and make sure you don’t forget to bring anything on your race day

Swimming:

  • Since swimming is very low-impact, you can actually push a bit harder in the pool than you would in the other sports. Try some moderate-pace intervals and really focus on your form and technique. Try to be as mentally prepared as possible for your swim.

In the end, racing is a competition, but it’s really about having fun. Some people are able to race more than others so you might be going through this taper process a lot. The more you do it, the more you’ll know your body and be able to prepare before each race.

Happy Racing!

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Workout Wednesdays – Cycling Hill Intervals

By Rob | Published July 18, 2012

Workout Wednesdays are where I post individual workouts that are tailored to fit into a 30min window. The idea is that these are short enough to do during a lunch hour with time for getting ready before and a quick shower afterward. Workouts will include as many sports as I can come up with and if you have any suggestions for new workouts or sports, please let me know in the comments or e-mail!

This week’s workout: Cycling Hill Intervals

Description:

Going uphill is one of the challenges of cycling, especially going uphill fast! This workout will help you get some better strength and speed going uphill through interval training on an incline! Depending on your fitness level, you can start with a moderate hill or a steeper one and build up as you go. Try to find one that is a bit of a challenge, if you can’t do the number of intervals listed here, or you have a longer hill that you’re going to use, feel free to adjust times and quantity accordingly.

Equipment Required:

  • Bike
  • Hill of moderate steepness (this is subjective, find one you can climb that you start having to work harder at at least halfway up or earlier, if you can get up without a challenge, try a steeper hill. If you don’t have anything steeper, switch to a higher gear for more of a challenge)

Hill workout:

  • Warmup: moderate 10 min ride (I find that my ride to the hill location is usually a good warmup)
  • Hill: From a near stop at the bottom of the hill, ride about halfway up then turn around and coast down. During the rest periods coming downhill it helps if you pedal at least a little to keep your legs moving and loose
  • Coast out a ways from the bottom of the hill before turning around
  • Hill: With a gentle speed, maybe around 8-14mph, approach the bottom of the hill and ride up about 3/4 of the way before turning around and coasting down
  • Turn around and ride up halfway again
  • Ride up the entire hill
  • Ride up halfway
  • Ride up the entire hill
  • Continue pattern of riding 1/2, 3/4, 1/2, full hill as much as desired until time has run out
  • Ride up halfway before coasting down and away from the hill.
  • Finish with 5-10min cooldown

Total time: 35min – but will vary depending on your speed up and down the hill as well as how many intervals you do

 

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