Leg extensions. Worth it or worthless

[I've seen black diamonds!]

if you’re not going to do much or anything else as a leg workout?

That's the key part. Leg blasters take a lot out of you. If you are lifting/running/biking a lot and add leg blasters you'll likely have to back off whatever else you're doing. But if you keep up your regular exercise and some split jumps and maybe squat jumps on tired legs you get a similar benefit without having to modify your routine as much.

[lucknau]

Yes AFAIK, particularly if you want something you can do at home with no equipment.

Right on, thanks.

That's the key part. Leg blasters take a lot out of you. If you are lifting/running/biking a lot and add leg blasters you'll likely have to back off whatever else you're doing. But if you keep up your regular exercise and some split jumps and maybe squat jumps on tired legs you get a similar benefit without having to modify your routine as much.

Yeah, they destroy me when I start doing them every year, but I get used to them surprisingly fast. I’ll have to learn about split jumps. Have been out of the realm of organized training for long enough that I don’t remember what anything’s called anymore.

Edit: oh.. are split jumps the same as the lunge jumps that are part of a leg blaster set?

[EWG]

Most people will probably never squat 3x bodyweight while running 50 mi/wk.* But, being fit for skiing is less about raw strength than it is about muscular endurance (which is different from aerobic endurance) and being resistant to the muscle damage caused by the heavy eccentric loading that occurs skiing. Not that being strong isn't important, but it's not critical to be as strong as you can possibly be. If you can't squat 1x bodyweight you'll see huge performance gains from getting your squat up to 1.5-2x BW, but going up to 2.5-3x BW likely won't help at all or will be detrimental.

* - But, multiple people have proven that it's not impossible. Alex Viada has squatted >700, run a 4:15 mile, and put up very respectable times in ultras and Ironmans. Ryan Hall (former elite marathoner) recently deadlifted 500# then immediately ran a 5:28 mile.

I agree with both you and jorlon. However, I would venture that fewer than 5% of the posters here can squat 2x bodyweight for 6 reps. And I'll bet it's closer to 1%. I'm around 185. I can't squat 370 6 times. If I could, I'd be a better skier. Beyond that it wouldn't matter much unless I was hucking 50 foot cliffs. Which I'm not.

[criscam]

That's the key part. Leg blasters take a lot out of you. If you are lifting/running/biking a lot and add leg blasters you'll likely have to back off whatever else you're doing. But if you keep up your regular exercise and some split jumps and maybe squat jumps on tired legs you get a similar benefit without having to modify your routine as much.

i was wondering if/when i'd start on the leg blasters but after reading this then maybe i don't need to. lifting legs 2x week and bike 2-3x but have started to mix in some running/hills and steep hiking/running so i guess i'm good as long as i incorporate some split jumps after the lifting or some hills...?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Right on, thanks.



Yeah, they destroy me when I start doing them every year, but I get used to them surprisingly fast. I’ll have to learn about split jumps. Have been out of the realm of organized training for long enough that I don’t remember what anything’s called anymore.

Edit: oh.. are split jumps the same as the lunge jumps that are part of a leg blaster set?

Yeah, split jumps = lunge jumps.

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[I've seen black diamonds!]

so i guess i'm good as long as i incorporate some split jumps after the lifting or some hills...?

That has worked for me. Sample size of 1. I go straight into the split jumps without any rest. Even the first few reps feel "heavy."

[Dantheman]

I agree with both you and jorlon. However, I would venture that fewer than 5% of the posters here can squat 2x bodyweight for 6 reps. And I'll bet it's closer to 1%. I'm around 185. I can't squat 370 6 times. If I could, I'd be a better skier. Beyond that it wouldn't matter much unless I was hucking 50 foot cliffs. Which I'm not.

Sorry, those were 1RMs, didn't mean to imply that those BW multiples were for reps. Squatting 2x BW for 6 reps is fucking beastly. Probably far less than 1% can do that, myself very much included. Shit, I've been pretty focused on riding this summer and haven't done much barbell work, I don't know that I could squat 2X for a single right now.

[abraham]

Do you guys have recommendations for hip/core stuff to get ready for ski season? I feel like I underutilized my ski season a few years ago because my hips were too tight and I couldn't work through it until March or so.
I've been mostly doing yard work all summer, some swimming and paddleboarding but no real hiking or climbing this year. I feel like I have to work on whatever goes through my hips on the sides and back to be ready for ski season, I can react to changes in a balance ball or with one of those water pipes for squats but it seems like I'm too slow or not moving enough in those cases to be ready to ski hard and react quickly.

[XavierD]

Your core is generally bracing or in rotation while skiing so various planks and holds and weighted rotations (Russian twists, med ball rotations etc) across a variety of planes of motion should help. Most folks Abs are weak as shit so some front and side planks, plus an ab wheel will go a long ways.

Most hip tightness is due to weak core and glutes. Doing the above with some light yoga can help. Getting to a yoga class where the instructor isn’t too scared to correct form can help. Also use a mirror and monitor your hips to keep them tucked under your abs. You could still have tight hip flexors so doing some stretches will help out, but always couple with some glute bridges.

Long story short: Ab wheel and glute bridges

Suspended leg lifts,

[fool]

Thanks for all the comments - great discussion.

https://uphillathlete.com/preseason-...ring-training/

Once I wrap up my running season in a few weeks I’ll start focusing on building max strength with things like squats and Romanian deadlifts for a month, and then do a month of muscle endurance training (less weight, more reps).

All while continuing cardio training.

I’ve used a few of the paid uphill athlete training plans to good effect as well. The steep skiing one is good for downhill strength but requires a power rack and weights. Last year I didn’t do a great job of executing it but I still came into ski season very much ready for downhill skiing. (It isn’t really designed for building an aerobic base for the uphill but you should be set with that already).

The grand traverse plan was great for staying in shape all season and prepping for a weeklong spring ski camping trip.

I didn’t appreciate when I started getting serious about training how individual everyone is so it really pays to understand the purpose of everything so that you can observe how your body is responding and adjust accordingly. It’s frustrating if you just want to be fit, but I’ve come to really enjoy the process. It’s a kind of self-knowledge/discovery that I find very rewarding.

Good call, Jorion - thanks! (And I hope your quads are recovering from Imogene!). Somehow I forgot about Uphill Athlete - I’m glad the plans are solid, as I also enjoyed the book a lot. (And I was thinking of them for coaching but prices are now $400/month. )

Totally agreed on understanding the purpose of everything and it being a fun journey of discovering. I enjoy learning about how all of this stuff works - have read both House/Johnson books, Twight, Starting Strength, training for ultra books, etc. - but I think the other thing I have picked up is that “perfect is [/can be] the enemy of good.” That is to say, doing the (mostly-right) work is more important than doing the perfect work, and sometimes I’ve caught myself going down the “perfect workout/plan” rabbit hole. Having a running coach for the last few years has showed the reiterated the importance of putting in the work, so I think that’s why I was curious about a good plan.

Most people will probably never squat 3x bodyweight while running 50 mi/wk.* But, being fit for skiing is less about raw strength than it is about muscular endurance (which is different from aerobic endurance) and being resistant to the muscle damage caused by the heavy eccentric loading that occurs skiing. Not that being strong isn't important, but it's not critical to be as strong as you can possibly be. If you can't squat 1x bodyweight you'll see huge performance gains from getting your squat up to 1.5-2x BW, but going up to 2.5-3x BW likely won't help at all or will be detrimental.

No idea where I’m at for squatting bodyweight but it’s been so long since I’ve gotten under the bar that I can’t be that strong. And this is kinda what I’m thinking - getting some good squat strength, with maybe some deadlift and core would help a fair bit.

DTM, since it sounds like you have a solid routine and get after it on bikes/skis/runs, do you have a solid routine or structure you would be willing to share? Curious how you structure your Fall, in addition to broader periodization and more tactical workouts.

Also, does anyone in Denver have gym/coach recommendations for powerlifting? I can dig up my Starting Strength book but it’s been quite a while….

This is highly dependent on terrain. Running downhill on steep technical trails is outstanding conditioning for the heavy eccentric loading in downhill skiing. It's fun as shit, too.

If you are running a lot, especially if you're bombing down hills, you don't need to do a full on muscle endurance cycle. But I still think a little helps right before ski season. The move that really helps, I think, is split jumps. You just don't get that deep into a lunge while trail running. I've tried different approaches each of the last 5 years. My favorite is this:

After I finish a set of weighted box steps (I do them with a barbell as part of a twice weekly workout) I go straight into split jumps without talking any rest.

Downhill is definitely fun, DTM & ISBD, even if I might not be “bombing” downhills. I haven’t done an insane amount this summer but probably have averaged 3-4k of downhill/week.

ISBD, out of curiosity, what else is in your twice-weekly workout? Any other exercises that could be useful? Especially since this is the “training thread”.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

ISBD, out of curiosity, what else is in your twice-weekly workout? Any other exercises that could be useful? Especially since this is the “training thread”.

Something like this

3 sets banded glute med exercise, such as monster walk across my basement a few times
alternating with
3 sets side planks

3 sets plank with plate on my back
alternating with
3 sets pistole squats (I either hold a counter weight or a gymnastics ring for balance).

3-5 sets press or ring dips
alternating with
3-5 sets weighted pull ups

3 sets weighted (barbell) box steps.
alternating with
3 sets of kettlebell swings

3 sets eccentric calf raises (achilles tendon therapy)

I alternate exercises like that because it lets me take a little less recovery time between sets. I get less bored and save myself, maybe, ten minutes.

The first two pairs of exercises are about managing my fucked up lower back (I should have quite coaching wrestling a few years sooner than I did). If I have tightness in my butt/hips/core that pulls my back out of alignment even a little it hurts like hell. I find strengthening those muscles to be far more important than stretching them (although I do enjoy smoking a bowl and getting a deep stretch in). I start with those exercises because I find them tedious and I get lazy if I save them for the end. Conversely, I enjoy the box steps and kettle bell swings, and can typically psych myself up even when I'm tired, so I put them last.

I don't squat anymore and seldom deadlift because of that same fucked up back. I can usually do those movements without pain or injury, but its not worth it. The box steps (I do a cycle of weighted lunges every so often too) are a pretty damn good substitute and [I]much[I] safer (for me). I don't go anywhere near failure on kettlebell swings, but I do go heavy-ish (55 lbs). Kettle bell swings done conservatively have been great for my back and add some needed hamstring work, as the box steps are more quad/glute focused), but at slightest twinge of pain I stop and sub another exercise, like box jumps.

The exercises where I push myself are the pull ups, press/ring dips and box steps. Everything else is done to fatigue but nowhere near failure. I've found that if I do two heavy leg excerises (say box steps and deadlift) I need more recovery and can't run as much. Although for a while I did one set of deadlifts once a week and that seemed good (apart from occasionally tweaking my back). I don't bench press anymore because it aggravates shoulder injuries. On the other hand press (sometimes push press or jerk instead) is the best therapy for my jacked up ligaments and labrums.

My goals have morphed from getting stronger to a combo not getting injured while lifting and and lifting to prevent injuries while running and skiing. It took a couple years of working with PTs along with plenty of trial and error to get this sorted. I worked with some good lifting coaches a while back too (with a goal of getting better at training the wrestlers I coached) and that has served me very well over the years. Feeling pretty good these days, except for getting older and struggling to stay as thin as I'd like.

/blog

[2FUNKY]

Glad to see this thread back on top. Some good stuff has been added lately that I am going to introduce into my work out. Ski season is near, get fit or get left behind. Myself included..

[gaijin]

You guys should be following John Collinson on Insta.

https://instagram.com/johncollinson?...dium=copy_link

And Jeff Cavaliere isn’t a skier but his knowledge linking PT and weight/strength training is phenomenal.

https://youtube.com/c/athleanx


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[EWG]

Yeah the functional fitness stuff Collinson posts on Instagram is the kind of thing I believe in for sure.

I put a number of weighting guides in the sprocket rocket training question thread that xtrapickels started. Once I get off this plane that’s about to take off I’ll try to dig them up and repost here.




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[EWG]

Ok. I dug this one up before the plane took off. This is for cyclists. Not specific to skiing but I’ll put up the posts then add a skiing section at the end.

Here's the weight stuff, part 1 of a few.

What are you accomplishing lifting weights as a cyclist? You’re mostly doing one of a couple of things – either restoring imbalances/repairing atrophy, or you’re adding strength. On top of that I think we can break the people in this thread into some groups – those wanting to go fast for performance, those wanting to be generally stronger/faster but willing to compromise some for lifestyle/health, and maybe those with physical issues they want to fix.

Adding strength is helpful in a few ways – you can increase the amount of power you can put into the pedals (increasing max watts), you can help build your FTP a little, and you can increase your upper limit, which helps make you more efficient and comfortable while working at lower levels.

Increasing power: Generating power is critical for sprinting – no matter how much time you spend on the bike you will never create as much ability to create force as you will with weights. Pretty obvious. The other benefit is a little more subtle. Think of it as overclocking your muscles – if they have the ability to generate more force than you are asking them to on a normal ride or race, then they are within their comfort range and stay efficient during rides, even at the top end of your FTP. In other words, your aerobic system becomes the limiter, not muscle strength.

Fixing issues: Repair and restoring is critical for cyclists because we get unbalanced. Knee and back issues are common, and its worse when we sit at computers all day for our jobs. Cyclists tend to get overdeveloped outside quad muscles, imbalanced backs above the waist, little upper body stability, and a lack of core strength. Additionally, as we get older, muscles that we don’t use, or compensate out of due to injuries, begin to atrophy and we don’t even notice. We just start moving differently, and issues develop over time. They cause pain, limited range of motion and lack of power, and more injuries because the body can’t be used correctly anymore. A great example of this is the bad knee cascade: the knee becomes unbalanced due to overdeveloped outside quads. Knee pain starts and it hurts to bend the knee to pick stuff up, so the person starts bending over at the back instead. This further atrophies the inside quad muscles as well as the glutes, and now instead of a nice solid load path for power from the shoulders through the hips through the knee and into the ankles and feet, there’s this disjointed dance that happens with the shoulders forward, the ass back, knees fairly straight with a result of pain and low power.

You would be amazed how many cyclists over 30 or 35 can’t do a proper squat from the sequence mentioned above. Lack of lateral motion is just as bad – cycling and running are straight ahead linear activities, and the body is made to move around sideways, up and down as well going straight. If you don’t use it you lose it, and losing it cause real issues. A similar thing happens with injuries, where people never learn to refire the muscle correctly after they get hurt.

So, before lifting you need to figure out a couple of things: first, what kind of physical issues are you dealing with – what repair and restoration do you need? Best done with a professional assessment, but without that you can do some of it yourself. Second, what are your goals? Obviously if you are a pro sprinter you will look for a very different outcome than a pro climber, and they’ll both be different from a recreational enduro guy, and different still from a person who’s just riding for general fitness. Some people are so beat up and in so much pain their main goal is just to move right and feel better. As a personal example, I’m much more focused on being strong and comfortable doing all my hobbies (skiing, biking, soccer, hiking, generally running around like an idiot) than I am in losing body mass on my upper body so I can climb a hill faster on my bike. Once upon a time that was true, but now carrying more muscle up top carries some protection that I want, and it’s a good trade off for me.

Ok, that’s the intro, next we’ll get into how to do it.


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[EWG]

First part was the why, this part is the what.

First, figured out what your goals are. As mentioned, are you currently racing and want to improve top end speed, or interval speed? Are you trying to fix a beat up body? Come back from injury? Are you now wanting to be recreationally fast and willing to sacrifice a little speed for a more all around fit frame? It's too much to handle all of that here, so we'll hit some common situations, but feel free to ask for your specific situation.

Some general stuff:

Form is really important. Look each exercise up on youtube. You want to do the exercises with form that targets exactly what it's trying to fire. For squats, for example, you need your load path to run straight down. If you are bent over like good mornings and you aren't bending your legs, you're just making an existing problem worse.

Counterbalancing matters. If you push, do the pull also. Example - if you do bench press, make sure to do rows or something else that builds the back muscles to counteract the pecs you are building with the bench presses. Again, cyclists often get out of balance from riding so part of what we are doing is fixing that - don't create new problems.

Do not neglect core. It provides stability for everything else you do, especially lower back stuff.

There are a million opinions on how to lift: dynamic programs, low rep high weight, 5x5, high rep low weight etc. No consensus. This is my opinion: for endurance athletes there are two schools of thought - low weight high rep and high weight low rep. I like high weight low rep, because I think that high rep work essentially adds stress to muscles already trying to recover from training rides. Low rep high weights make the muscles work harder but for shorter time, so there's less lactic acid to clear out. (that's not exactly correct but I don't want to spend the time to explain it in more detail) Suffice it to say that low reps with high weights seem to interfere less with recovering from an already full cycling or running training load, so I think most people should stay with that.

Be conservative when you start! If you haven't lifted for a long time (or ever) you can hurt yourself easily, especially with sketchy form. Don't pop a hammy. And it won't usually happen lifting - it'll happen on a ride later that day or the next.

Rest is critical, as always. The older you get the more rest is needed. Young guns can lift all the time and recover fine. As you get older you have to be more careful. I've tried to assume below that each scenario is based on an age and tune the number of workouts to that.

Specifics:

Scenario 1: committed racer trying to increase interval and top end speed performance

In this case you are willing to sacrifice long term body stability and general health for short term (even if it's years) performance. You cannot add any extra mass that doesn't make you go faster. You want to concentrate on leg stability and strength, a little core, and power. You exercise should include:

Squats, Heels elevated squats, hack squats, spanish squats and sissy squats (even out and stabilize the quads)
Deadlifts, RDL, dumbbell RDL, sumo deadlifts (hamstrings - power)
Calf raises - body weight and loaded
Lunges - walking, bodyweight, loaded with dumbbells (great for knees)
Lateral lunges, weighted and BW (stability)
Leg curls - towel or slider, on back using balance ball (cautious here if your hammies are already overloaded)
Hip thrusts (riders often weak here)
Some lighter core work - keep things strong but don't overdue it. nothing holding anything heavy. V ups, russian twists, sit ups, planks on elbows, side planks, etc.

You would want to make sure you cycle through these and that you are balancing push with pull. To start maybe 2-3 times per week in the offseason, no more than 2 times per week in shoulder season, once a week during season for maintenance. This is helping create an unsustainable body by the way - inbalanced top to bottom. But it's a trade off for speed.

Scenario 2:

Enduro kind of rider, or fast recreational roadie, or general mtn biker. Still want to go fast but don't mind carrying an extra 10 pounds of muscle. Want some full body fitness and better general health. This assumes you don't have any major inbalances - we'll get to those next. We're going to do the stuff above, but now need to add upper body and connection between upper and lower.

All the leg stuff above
Landmine squats (stability and power)
All the core stuff above but add - heavy russian twists, suspended knee ups, weighted situps, landmine twists (stronger core)
Good mornings, GHDs (lower back)
Bench press, incline bench press, dumbbell press, squeeze press, close grip barbell press (think of it like armour)
Pendlay rows, jansen rows, strict upright rows, dumbbell rows, prone rows (upper and middle back)
Pull ups, variety of hand positions, weight and bodyweight (heavier you are the harder they are)
Dips, weighted and bodyweight (back of arms and back)
Lateral raises, bowing lateral raises, prone lateral raises (shoulders)
Overhead press, dumbbell overhead press (shoulders)
Standing curls, dumbbell curls, spider curls, hammer curls, strict curls with elbow on inside of knee, preacher curls
Tricep extensions, band pull downs, overhead tricep raises, face pulls, dumbbell tricep extensions, dumbbell PJR pullovers

Same thing as above - cycle through these to balance push and pull. You should be doing twice a week for each of upper body, lower body and core work. Bail on the second leg day and core day, or both, if you have a big event that week and want to be ready for it. The idea is that you are doing this consistently year round so missing some workouts now and then doesn't matter.

Scenario 3: You have inbalances you need to fix.

I decided not to tackle this here. There are too many variables. If you want individual help with either checking yourself out or if you know you have issues post them and we can handle case by case.

More general notes on lifting:

I've listed a bunch of exercises on each line. Generally, they are interchangeable. You want to change it up to different exercises within each muscle group (each line above) so your body doesn't adapt to a single movement, plus some slight variety works muscles differently and it's better for your body. It's often good to pick some main moves and repeat them for a few weeks, then change those up. The smaller moves vary more often.

Every 4-5 weeks you should have a very, very easy week. Either lift really light that week or don't lift at all. Between rest weeks you want to focus on building strength each week, so repeating moves those weeks helps. Then next cycle change the moves up.

If you haven't lifted before start light. You will be really sore two days later - the older you are, the more sore you will be.

One of the cool things about a real, consistent lifting program: if you are carrying extra weight, most people see really progress with that after 8-12 weeks. If you are already in race shape you will need to eat more.

If you are on the high weight, low rep plan, you will be between 4-6 reps for things like bench press and 6-10 reps for things like lateral raise. Generally the higher the weight you can move with that particular muscle group the lower the reps.

Ok, probably enough for now. Next installment will tackle how to set yourself up at home if you don't have access to a gym (or don't want to go there) with options from just using bands to a full weight setup.


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[Dantheman]

DTM, since it sounds like you have a solid routine and get after it on bikes/skis/runs, do you have a solid routine or structure you would be willing to share? Curious how you structure your Fall, in addition to broader periodization and more tactical workouts.

Let me start off by saying that I am an entirely unremarkable athlete. I don't suck at my sports of choice, but compared to the people who are truly good I totally suck. I'm a professional scientist, but my field is not exercise physiology or any other related discipline. If you want professional advice talk to XtrPickles.

That said, I'm feeling pretty damn good about where I am being minutes away from 40. I've hurt myself a lot over the years but I have no chronic nagging injuries. I'm 5-6, 155 lbs and probably 10-12% bodyfat. I'm not going to do anything as douchey as post a shirtless mirror selfie (well, maybe if baby bear or KQ request one ), but here's me SUP dorking during a trip to Hood River in August: https://lizdeanski.files.wordpress.c...e39dbebc29.jpg

These skiing clips are a couple years old now, but are still highly representative of how I ski pretty much all the time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQBGQLfmzmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=961QUd27Sv8

As a base, I try to incorporate a lot of activity into my basic daily life. I bike commute to work and use the bike for errand running whenever I can which totals up to about 40-50 miles/week. I mow my lawn with a reel mower. I have a dog that's 65 lbs of pure muscle and loves to play tug-o-war more than anything--a game of tug can easily turn into a 40-minute ass-kicking workout. I jump on the tramp with my 11 y.o. a lot. I bound up stairs 2 at a time by default. I park at the far end of big box parking lots and jog to the doors. When I need to pick up something small off the floor I do a full squat or a full straight-leg bend from the waist (the half-bend/half-squat thing most people do is a terrible movement). I stretch and do yoga poses while watching TV. I take calls walking around. If you start looking for them opportunities abound to be non-sedentary and incorporate quality movement and nano workouts into daily life.

At work I have a convertible workstation and spend ~5 hours per day standing. In a normal work day I'll do 6-8 micro workouts throughout the day. Exercises vary, but always some combo of legs/push/pull. Typical examples would be:

-Goblet squat a 50 lb sandbag 10-15x (not a fancy sandbag, one of those $5 0.5 ft3 bags of "tube sand" from Home Depot) + 5x muscle ups (luckily for me, my office backs up to a park and there's a perfect split-bar setup for MUs and straight bars for pullups)
-2 minute plank + 5x chest-to-bar pullups (usually more like chest-to-nipples or lower, doing really high pullups is the key to muscle-ups)
-20x split jumps + 20x pushups + 5x chest-to-bar chinups
-Sprint 200 meters (another luxury the park affords) + 10x clapping pushups + 5x wide-grip chest-to-bar pullups
-15x burpees + pullup variation
-Farmer carry 2x50lb sandbags 2 minutes + pushup variation

You get the idea. There's something about small bouts of activity throughout the day that really clicks with me. In summer when I tend to lift less (so that I can ride and run more) these can be almost 100% of my lifting. It’s awesome to get home from the office and have no need to work out.

In the summer the goal is to ride/run at least 5,000 vert/week, because fun. This is usually biased more toward riding than running. Even if life obligations allow 10,000 ft/week is about the most I can handle and still recover. Living where I do makes this a much more reasonable goal than it is for a lot of people. My vert:miles ratio tends to be pretty high because those are the kind of trails I enjoy. I’m not really into pounding out lots of flat miles these days. If you're on Strava I can link you to my account.

Going into fall I tend to bias towards less riding and more “running” (hike up, run down, aka the RunDown^TM) to get my eccentric loading resilience tuned up prior to ski season. I also start doing more heavy barbell work and proper gym workouts, especially after DST ends.

I typically take two days off per week. I still commute, park far away, etc. but no hard lifting or cardio. I usually get 9-9.5 hours of sleep per night and ideally would get 10, but my sleep efficiency is really low due to nocturnal polyuria (I urinate 3-4x per night, usually 1-1.5 liters total) so the actual amount of sleep I get is probably more like most people’s 8-hr night. Sleep is the foundation upon which all health and fitness is built. Diet revolves around whole foods in copious quantities.

That's pretty much DanFit in a nutshell. Happy to elaborate on any of it more if you have specific questions.

My goals have morphed from getting stronger to a combo not getting injured while lifting and and lifting to prevent injuries while running and skiing.

100%. While the gym can be fun, it's a necessary evil that's required to continue skiing/riding/running/living at the level I enjoy. Getting hurt lifting is entirely unacceptable.

[AEvospace]

I need to get onto the micro-workout plan. Motion is lotion.

[altachic]

What if I request a shirtless selfie, DTM??!
You guys should read DTMs post on his lifestyle/workouts, twice and try to live it. I've seen him transform his life from doing a dedicated one hour workouts after work, sometimes stressful to get it in to this is just how he lives his life. Lotion IS motion and he lives his life as if it's a workout, small ones multiple times a day. This is the longest he's been without chronic injuries and he's FIT. Don't let him lead you into thinking he isn't an incredible athlete because he IS and that comes from consistently being consistent with everything he's mentioned. I've definitely changed my ways because he's my partner, the one I love and live with and the guy who absolutely talks the talk and walks the walk on a daily basis.
I'll get off the soapbox now but so many of you ask all the time what he's doing/does/how you can do the things he incorporates into his life.
Edit: I should mention that his eating lifestyle is key. He eats more than most I know but it's all FULL of wholesome, real foods and fortunately OR unfortunately he can't have gluten so that just takes a lot of junk out that could otherwise be in our home.

[jackstraw]

Some lighter core work - keep things strong but don't overdue it. nothing holding anything heavy. V ups, russian twists, sit ups, planks on elbows, side planks, etc.

Sit ups? I thought those were a no no?

I've never been a work out gym person, but I've kinda become a half assed one over the past few yrs. I do 3-4 different p90x videos rotating weekly to go with my mtn biking. My biggest issue is keeping my knees happy and I really don't know if I am. I don't jump ever. I'll do the 90x leg workout and if I do plyo it's a cheat with zero jumps. Wall squats seem good, idk. I do the Insanity ab workout, which is all c-sit and plank stuff. Have a roller too that scares me a bit.

Finally over the past 5 maybe 6 idk months I've committed to yoga. Wake up to a 15 minute daily and then a longer one 4, 5, 6 days a week. I'm consistently inconsistent, but I'm always doing something. Somehow I keep getting old though. So I drink a beer, eat an edible, wake up and go again. Not dead yet.

[EWG]

What are your knee symptoms?


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[jackstraw]

What are your knee symptoms?


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Not terrible. (knocking on wood) One meniscus scope, signs of wear and arthritic concerns. Skiing EC ice growing up, then seasons of 100+ with a joy for hucking...not always to a nice transitions, and then back to EC. I'm a complete pow snob now. They can hurt skiing hard pack groomers. I generally snowboard instead anyway. I ran forever also. Basically just old knees. I have done and still do PT type exercises to strengthen muscles supporting the knee. Biking certainly helps but I do need to be careful on punchy ups. I just turned 54, so they've been thru a fair amount. Maintain and prevent injury is my goal.

[EWG]

Gotcha. I’m not a PT, first of all, so take this for what’s it’s worth. The absence of specific pain spots or known conditions, along with your description, makes this seem like general deterioration and pain.

Assuming that:
The older you get, the more you atrophy muscles you don’t specifically work. Over time you get slight muscle imbalances and start to change your movements to accommodate those. That puts less performance requirements on those slightly weaker muscles, which in turn unbalances them even more and they can get amazingly week at a relatively young age. Pretty soon you aren’t squatting the same way (instead bending from your waist) and your knees get week. On top of that you sound like you do a bunch of straight ahead exercises (biking, running) which most of the time overdevelops the outside quad muscles and underworks the inside ones. And your glutes stop firing as well because you rarely do a full squat. So all that needs to be fixed.

First, the macro exercises. Real squats, with weight. Start easy but over some weeks build up to real weight with 5-8 reps sets. Do a bunch of squat forms (heels up, goblet, front) to build all the muscles, but mostly back squats. Use the right form. This will help rebuild your glutes and inner quads.

Deadlifts. Same program as squats. Use the right form and do a few variations. This will work your glutes and hammies and help protect your knees.

Hip thrusts and calf raises. Again, build the muscles around your knees to protect them.

Smaller moves: Single leg balance ball body weight squats. High reps. Like 14-16. This builds up all the stuff around the knee and helps teach the muscles to fire quickly for stabilization. 3 reps each leg, alternating.

Lunges, in all forms, for strength and stabilization.

The idea is that, right now, lifting your body is at the limit of what your knees can do. Strengthening them so that they can easily lift much more than that takes them out of a stress condition for your normal activities. Most people over, say, 30-35 (or younger) who haven’t done this kind of lifting much are shocked when the get in a gym and see how weak they actually are for these moves.

I also believe in glucosamine/condroitin supplements. They helped me. Science seems to indicate they help with joint pain and health but still some disagreement there. Your mileage may vary.

Hope this helps.

[Hopeless Sinner]

Can confirm, even mini leg blasters are hard. Thankfully almost 2 months to go.

[climberevan]

Let me start off by saying that I am an entirely unremarkable athlete. I don't suck at my sports of choice, but compared to the people who are truly good I totally suck. I'm a professional scientist, but my field is not exercise physiology or any other related discipline. If you want professional advice talk to XtrPickles.

That said, I'm feeling pretty damn good about where I am being minutes away from 40. I've hurt myself a lot over the years but I have no chronic nagging injuries. I'm 5-6, 155 lbs and probably 10-12% bodyfat.

As a base, I try to incorporate a lot of activity into my basic daily life. I bike commute to work and use the bike for errand running whenever I can which totals up to about 40-50 miles/week. I mow my lawn with a reel mower. I have a dog that's 65 lbs of pure muscle and loves to play tug-o-war more than anything--a game of tug can easily turn into a 40-minute ass-kicking workout. I jump on the tramp with my 11 y.o. a lot. I bound up stairs 2 at a time by default. I park at the far end of big box parking lots and jog to the doors. When I need to pick up something small off the floor I do a full squat or a full straight-leg bend from the waist (the half-bend/half-squat thing most people do is a terrible movement). I stretch and do yoga poses while watching TV. I take calls walking around. If you start looking for them opportunities abound to be non-sedentary and incorporate quality movement and nano workouts into daily life.

At work I have a convertible workstation and spend ~5 hours per day standing. In a normal work day I'll do 6-8 micro workouts throughout the day. Exercises vary, but always some combo of legs/push/pull. Typical examples would be:

-Goblet squat a 50 lb sandbag 10-15x (not a fancy sandbag, one of those $5 0.5 ft3 bags of "tube sand" from Home Depot) + 5x muscle ups (luckily for me, my office backs up to a park and there's a perfect split-bar setup for MUs and straight bars for pullups)
-2 minute plank + 5x chest-to-bar pullups (usually more like chest-to-nipples or lower, doing really high pullups is the key to muscle-ups)
-20x split jumps + 20x pushups + 5x chest-to-bar chinups
-Sprint 200 meters (another luxury the park affords) + 10x clapping pushups + 5x wide-grip chest-to-bar pullups
-15x burpees + pullup variation
-Farmer carry 2x50lb sandbags 2 minutes + pushup variation

You get the idea. There's something about small bouts of activity throughout the day that really clicks with me. In summer when I tend to lift less (so that I can ride and run more) these can be almost 100% of my lifting. It’s awesome to get home from the office and have no need to work out.

In the summer the goal is to ride/run at least 5,000 vert/week, because fun. This is usually biased more toward riding than running. Even if life obligations allow 10,000 ft/week is about the most I can handle and still recover. Living where I do makes this a much more reasonable goal than it is for a lot of people. My vert:miles ratio tends to be pretty high because those are the kind of trails I enjoy. I’m not really into pounding out lots of flat miles these days. If you're on Strava I can link you to my account.

Going into fall I tend to bias towards less riding and more “running” (hike up, run down, aka the RunDown^TM) to get my eccentric loading resilience tuned up prior to ski season. I also start doing more heavy barbell work and proper gym workouts, especially after DST ends.

Quoting for recognition of excellence. I'm feeling the need to incorporate more strength stuff into my life now that I'm not physically working as much myself (it's nice to have employees but they take all of the hard work and leave me to write checks).

It's hard because I have a seemingly endless well of motivation for endurance stuff and that's been fine for me in general, but as I get deeper into my 40s the need for strength for its own sake and to prevent injuries seems more pressing.

How do you talk yourself into a gym session instead of a bike ride, which would be way more fun?