a few questions about my shallow-dive into the weightroom
the weightroom is mostly new to me (I haven't really touched weights since about 2005) and could use a few pointers. I'm continuing a Anotomical Adaptation period for 4 more weeks (after 4 already), then on to a Maximum Strength phase for 6 weeks before the OS. Here are items that I'm curious about:
-warmup. I've decided to just swim 30' as warmup; main driver is it keeps me in the pool 3x week, is a full-body warmup, and I wou;d not swim until about March,, otherwise. Normally about 20 mins of freestyle, 5 backstroke, 5 pullboy. Anything I should add / take away / do less of / do more of? This is very unstructured and essentially it's been "move in the water for a half hour" so far.
-protein/refuel. I'm not moving big weights, and my entire routine is about an hour. When I look around me, i seems like everyone is drinking protein shakes during and after workouts. Do I really need to do this? Assuming a balanced diet, is there a g/kg amount of PRO I should be supplementing with within a certain widow after a workout? I'd be happier having a yogurt or chocolate milk, fwiw.
-technique. I'm using machines that seem pretty foolproof, safe, and I am following setup instructions ... is there any additional value that having a instructor for a few sessions would bring? I'm also pretty confident of the program, so i would imagine this person would be onboard as a technique-only guide.
Thanks. I've tried searches on all of these in Google but the information is so voluminous, polarized and ill-suited to my use that I thought I would turn to the team.
Comments
@Dave Tallo A few thoughts
• Improving your strength will have direct and indirect benefits - will make you a better athlete, and will provide an alternative means of gaining the mental and system wide benefits you get from "training".
• My preferred warm-up for weights is either run - Sauna - Weights, or just sauna-weights. I;ve been hitting the sauna for 5-20 minutes before lifting for decades. I have no idea if it is a good idea or not, but I believe it decreases the likelihood of joint pain/injury by literally getting the juices flowing in there. I used to stretch in the sauna, now I just listen to music.
• Protein after? It makes sense, if the purpose is to enhance muscle strength (which is not necessarily the same as "get bigger"), to provide the building blocks needed. I use either chocolate milk (which I mix up myself) or a 20 gram protein bar I get from Costco.
• Technique. There is no question in my mind that correct technique is mandatory when working with weights, both to prevent injury, and to focus on the specific area(s) of the set. E.G, when I do curls, I want my back/upper body perfectly still, so as to isolate the biceps. If you don't know what is right, by all means, find out!
• Your query got me thinking about exercises to recommend. For you, the more sport specific, the better. Quads and glutes for cycling. Using a machine or pull straps to mimic both the forwards and backward motions of running - high-stepping = forward, "pawing" backwards for the other. For swimming, in addition to routine lat pulls, what about isolating the lats by leaning forward, keeping the elbow slightly bent, locked, and high, and pressing down on the bar. I'm sure it's got a name...
@Dave Tallo There is no need to drink protein during a weight lifting session. Research shows you should aim for around 25-30 gm protein that includes at least 3 gm leucine post exercise. This signals the mTor pathway and to start repairing muscle. Depending on how much yogurt you are eating I'm not certain it would have 3 gm leucine. This is one reason why whey protein is popular because it checks the box.
I believe the biggest mistake is that after strength training many are not eating enough. Carbs turn off cortisol and replenish glycogen, protein repairs. It's pretty straight forward. You're on the right track.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424729/
After watching my kids at a sports performance training facility, I started to go there to correct some issues with my back, hips, etc as all the Tri-training left some gaps in my muscular strength. For warm-ups, it was pretty simple exercises, but the goal was not just warm up, but movement patterns, muscle activation, along with stretching. We'd do thing similar to this:
10 cat/camels, 10 dead bugs w/ a band pull apart, 10 glute bridges w/ band, 8 t-spine rotations (each side) out of a kneeling position with 1 leg extended to the side, 8 bird dogs, 8 Spiderman rotations. Then we'd use a band for side shuffles, monster walks, in and out jumps. After that, dynamic stretching followed by skips, Carioca, high knees, butt kicks, and slides. It took about 10-15 minutes and you were warm and muscles activated to start the lift.
I think being warm is one component, but if you haven't woken up the muscles and supporting structures then you a missing out on a big component to injury prevention and incorporating all the stuff you are trying to make stronger.
I have been doing this for a few months now outside of the 4 weeks i had to take off for hernia surgery. I do three different routines. I used to be more of a lifter in my college and twenties, but by no means a musclehead.
1-Upper body, i mash together 3-5 exercises to create a circuit, repeat for 3 circuits of 12-15 reps per set. then move on to the next circuit. Right now i am doing upper body, 3 circuits
2-core similar to upper body will put together a circuit of 5-7 core exercises and repeat 3x
3-lower body, haven't done this much lately because of the PRP injections, but again similar to above
I will do the upper and lower body 2x a week in the gym and will do an abbreviated version of them at home with dumbbells a 3rd time per week when optimal. IN season i will reduce this to two sessions a week.
I know @tim cronk has done this, timed them and added to his TP file, wondering if he adds any TSS to those WKOs? I do not
I track strength training time in TP. I do NOT calculate a TSS .
My Garmin watch put into WKO gives me a TSS for weight training, based off of HR, and work time (I currently am doing 4 reps in a 2 min period, with a one minute rest), usually about 15 TSS for 25'. I let that ride in the WKO 4 app, adding it to my CTL.
Thanks all. Very helpful