Sunday Story…Strength, continued

There are a couple areas of strength that are often overlooked or under-emphasized. They are stability, balance, and coordination. Those last 2 count as one by the way!

 Stability is the ability to prevent movement in one part of the body while creating movement in another, thus protecting vulnerable areas from injury.

Balance and coordination are the ability to perform movements with precision and grace.

As we age these become more and more important. The statistics that show end-of-life outcomes after a fall are frightening. If you lose your balance your core strength is what protects you from falling. Stability allows me to protect my back when I bend over to pick something up.

So now we need to add some work every week that will keep those things healthy as well. Luckily, many of the usual strength suspects can do double duty. A simple deadlift not only helps maintain strength in the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings), but it will also increase grip strength as well as stability under load. When you warm up you can hang from the bar for some seconds and then do your pull-up. Jumping rope will help with balance and coordination.

Can you hang for a bar for 1 minute? There’s your first goal. Can you pick up ½ your body weight and carry it for 1 minute? Can you stand on 1 foot for 20 seconds? How about with your eyes closed? These are all objective tests that will indicate your readiness for your marginal decade! If you can do all of them…good on you! Now increase the time and weight! Get better, get stronger, and be intentional about being fitter than the average (insert age) year old!

Next week nutrition!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 Sunday Story…Strength

So, first is zone 2, second is the mobility piece, and third is strength and skill. This one is much harder to quantify. All of us need to do strength training. The how and what of it varies greatly, however.

In my case, I do 2 days a week dedicated to squatting. Another day to work on gymnastic skills and drills. Another day to do Olympic weight training. I also do bar muscle-up progressions (15 minutes) 3 times a week. I mix various progressions and skills to move my fitness forward. The exact part of this is less important than the doing of it. You must train for strength even if all you are doing is lifting an empty barbell or light dumbbell. This is one of the pillars of fitness and longevity. Stronger is better. Strong people are harder to kill. Muscles at rest require more energy (calories) than anything else in your body. If you are stronger, you can eat more (my favorite!)

You may be looking at that and saying that sounds like too much. I get it. But you really need to start prioritizing your health and fitness. You don’t have to try to be a world-class athlete unless that’s one of your goals. But if you want to be mobile and independent into your 70s, 80s, and beyond you need to make your physical health a top priority. We are seeing way too many people die when they could have made their health more critical.

Whatever time you spend on this I guarantee it will be time well spent. I would insist that you be mindful and intentional when you do it. 15 minutes of dedicated work will beat 60 minutes of mindless scrolling while on cardio equipment.

This stuff isn’t rocket science but it does require you to work. There are no free lunches in the aging cafeteria!

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Mobility!

 

 

One of the big changes I have made in my training is the addition of mobility work. Honestly, this is something I have always paid lip service to but have never taken up as a diligent practice. So, since GOWOD was nice enough to gift me a free 1-year subscription to their service (one of the perks of being a games competitor) I decided to put it to work.

6 out of 7 days a week I spend 15 minutes doing a personalized protocol from GOWOD. Their system is simple. I did a test to see what I really needed to improve and then every day I ask for a 15-minute mobility routine. The system seems to be working well…I spent 3 minutes in a deep squat the other day which is something I have never done! There is no equipment needed but if you have some things (PVC pipe, massage gun, bands) they will use those also.

Here's the why:

One of the things that goes away almost imperceptibly is our mobility. When we are young mobility is a given. You rarely need to work on it, and you take it for granted. As we age things shift and we are not able to move as well. When was the last time you got in a deep squat for 1 minute let alone 3 minutes? All over the world people of all ages sit, talk, and eat while squatting (there is a dearth of chairs!) We don’t so we need to consciously do things to keep up with the constant pressure of decrepitude. After all, don’t we all want to go to the bathroom unassisted for the rest of our lives? I know I do.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…What now?

There is an old Zen saying that goes something like this:

Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water.

After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.

In other words, no matter what happens life is still going to life. In this case, after the CrossFit games, I will go back to doing what I was doing before the games.

Here’s what that looks like for me now:

45 minutes of long slow distance 3 days a week. I do 1 each of rowing, skiing, and air biking. I keep my heart rate down in the 120-130 range. At the same time, I am trying to increase my pace. In other words, do more work using the same or less effort as measured by my heart rate. For instance, my rowing pace is down to 2:15 or less per 500 meters. That translates to about 10,000 meters in 45 minutes. The goal is to decrease the pace to 2:00 per 500 and keep the HR down.

I also run a 5k every Saturday morning. Well, almost every Saturday. You can join me any Saturday you like. And we are keeping the pace down in that zone 2 range.

This is the biggest bang for your buck in terms of overall health outcomes. This zone 2 training refashions my cardiorespiratory response giving me a broad and deep base to draw from. When my HR goes up doing other work this base allows my heart rate to recover faster, it allows me to work longer at higher rates without feeling lightheaded or like I’m going to die. In the middle zones, the discomfort is minimal, and I find I can go even longer.

I’ll talk about what else I’m doing next week. In the meantime, it’s all about the LSD!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412