Today I did my first Tai Chi session. Admittedly, it was quite slow for someone who enjoys throwing punches and kicks and breaking out in a serious sweat. However, I did find my limbs getting looser as the class progressed. The instructor said that, if we did the class consistently, we would find ourselves becoming more flexible whenever we took a spill (a definite plus for someone whose already crashed her bike 3 times in 13 months). So, I think I'll continue doing the Friday Tai Chi lunch sessions.
On another note, Wednesday's spin class required that we pick a target heart rate and then drop our heart rates lower and lower after each hr increase segment. My target hr was 170 and I was able to reach it (or surpass it) all 5 times. The first time I was supposed to bring my hr down, it went down to 128 within 2 minutes. However, each time I tried to return to a lower hr after that, I just couldn't do it: 133, 135, 133, and 129. Aaaaghhhhhhhh!!! I hate that I can't recover more quickly. This is something I'm going to have to work on A LOT!
8 comments:
Perfect excuse for lots of slowwww base training. Nothing drives a heart rate down like some good old fashioned endurance-zone training. Plus, it's better for on-the bike chatting:) Where do you do Tai-Chi?
One of the few perks of working in our new building is that we have a gym in the building and a variety of classes to choose from during our lunch break - tai chi being one of them.
I think the instructor is a martial artist as well and I'm looking forward to the day when he breaks out of his "active meditative" role and breaks out with a few kicks, punches, and rolls for demonstration purposes. What can I say, I have a dark side. ;-)
what heart rate monitor?
I feel naked without a heart rate monitor so I always wear one when I'm on the spinner or the bike.
bah, heart rate. throw that thing away. those things seem really good if you want to obsess over numbers. but, when push comes to shove, you recover how fast you recover and work as hard as you can work.
i like to use the "how much do my legs burn"-o-meter.
1-spinny spin spin
2-i can feel the road
3-the road hurts a bit, but i can do this a long time.
4-whoa, there i can feel that burn a lot and can't do this for too long
5-holy fucking shit my legs are going to crap out on me and i'm gonna fall off the bike or start to slow down despite trying to push harder.
how you like them zones?
Beth, have you contacted Wenzel Coaching with these training zones? I think they might like to use them for their clients. I especially like the, "holy fucking shit zone." ;-)
Out of curiosity, I'll try out your free-style zone training the next time I go on a long ride . I'll keep you posted on how my legs feel during and after the ride.
haha. i don't know if official coaches would like my zones very much. that is okay; works for me.
i ran lots of track in high school and college and the numbers just got to be too much and took the fun out of the sport. one reason i liked cycling to begin with is no one knows their "mile time" or things like that. then i found out there were a ton of things i could obsess about if i wanted to (heart rate, power, mileage, mph cadence, etc.)- but i made a decision to not do that and just go with how i am feeling, with stop watch for when i do intervals. having done competitive sports for awhile, i can usually tell how much i can do/handle. i think most people can. we can become very attune to feeling.
i am sure HR monitors are helpful for mental toughness sometimes (like if you know you can get your hr higher..or to keep it where it is at), but i think we can do that without it - just takes some mental discipline and some crazy mental games to make sure to keep your speed up (like, only looking at spots 10 ft ahead of you and then trying to get to the next one... or counting pedal strokes and trying to keep the speed the same)
i don't know if this is the best way to train, but i like not having something concrete to compare my last week/month/year performance. i just try to work as hard as i can today and if that is the best i can do that day, then that is great. cycling is lots of fun and i like to enjoy the ride!
Yeah, I hear what you're saying about unnecessary obsessions. I think people need to figure out what training methods work for them. I try to keep an open mind in all matters b/c you just never know when you're going to find something that works better for you.
I'm now interested in seeing if I have the mental toughness to push myself harder sans hr monitor (at least on the road since I think they're still a useful tool for indoor spinning) or will I learn that I have been using it as a crutch? Hmmm...we shall see. Stay tuned!
Post a Comment