Time Trial Photos

Water Rowing

It’s hard to get water moving, but it’s not hard to keep it moving.

Without a doubt, speeding-up is harder to do than anything else on the Water Rower. And if you’re already moving fast, then speeding up is very difficult.

You’re best bet is not to hold back. Go all out until you reach the desired speed. Then relax into the easier rhythm of movement that will sustain the speed.

By the way, 500 meters is a standard unit of length in rowing. The Water Rower can be set to give you a 500 meter time. The smaller that number, the faster you’re rowing.

Don’t Spin Your Wheels

A Physical Activity Guideline for Americans is to do 150 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week. At less than vigorous intensity, also known as moderate intensity, that number increases to 300 minutes. This means that moderate intensity exercisers should spend a lot of time in the gym.

If you like taking it easy in the gym, remember that doing so will cost you time. If you don’t spend the required time, you won’t gain the benefits of exercise. You would just be spinning your wheels at the gym.

I think its best to exercise at a vigorous intensity. Good results come from exercise at that intensity. Most people have little time to excercise, so little that only vigorous intensity exercise would give them benefits.

Work hard at the gym. You may as well get the results that you came for.

How Hard Is the Shoe?

The midsole is the most important part of a shoe. Sandwiched between a shoe’s upper and outsole, the midsole is what you stand on.

Midsoles are made of thermoplastic foam. The foams have varying degrees of hardness. Hard foams offer more support than do soft foams. Soft foams have better cushion than hard foams.

It is important to buy shoes with the appropriate amount of hardness. Hard shoes sometimes irritate people that don’t really need hardness. Soft shoes may not well support the unstable foot and ankle system.

The Training Station understands all of this, and more, abut sneakers. If you need the right pair, we’re the folks that will find it.

Eat Before the Morning Workout

If you workout in the morning, the temptation is to skip breakfast before the workout.

That’s not a good idea. Remember, your last meal was probably dinner — 10 to 12 hours earlier. After that much time, the body needs food and, especially, water. Do what the name implies — BREAK the FAST.

It’s ideal to eat 1 to 2 hours before working out. That’s not practical for most morning exercisers, because they typically wake up less than an hour before working out. These folks should eat a small meal of approximately 200 calories. The contents of the meal will vary with each person.

Eat whatever your stomach can handle while exercising. Dairy normally does not sit well in stomachs while exercising. Grains, vegetables, and meats do sit well. I usually recommend eating a small amount of leftover dinner. Drink a pint or more of water.

People who don’t eat before a vigorous morning workout often complain about feeling dizzy, faint, or nauseous.

A hard workout is tough enough, no need to make it harder with an empty stomach.

Ibuprofen is Your Friend

There are people who want to feel sore. When they wake up the day after the workout, they want to ache and hurt. The pain confirms for them that they really put in hard work.

I’m no fan of muscle soreness. I try to rid my body of it, as soon as possible. I don’t understand those who need hurt after exercising.

For those who think like me, what follows are the most reliable pain-relieving methods that I have used.

Remember that ibuprofen is your friend. Whether Motrin or Advil, this drug takes the sharp edge off of acute muscle soreness. Don’t take if you’re allergic to ibuprofen.

Repeat within 48 hours the same workout that caused the pain. Doing so will pump blood back into the sore muscle tissues. The blood carries the bodily chemicals that ultimately heal the damaged muscles and ease the pain. That notwithstanding, there are workouts that are just too intense to repeat within 48 hours.

Take hot or cold showers. A nice way to temporarily ease muscle soreness is to put hot or cold water on the skin. That’s why athletes submerge their body parts in ice water, and why hot baths feel good. A 15-minute swim has a similar effect.

Stretch. A good stretch will make you more comfortable in your skin. But it will have little affect on muscle soreness. Think of stretching as a method of increasing your comfort, more so than as a method of reducing the pain.

The Training Station offers the best (and only) complete stretching therapy in the Philadelphia area. If you need a good stretch, we’ll be happy to do it!

More Bars in One Place

Here at The Training Station, we offer a variety of different bars, each serving a different purpose, to cater to your lifting needs.  Below is The Training Station’s guide to knowing how to distinguish each bar from the others as well as how to know when to use which bar.

POWER BARS:
The York power bars are often found racked on a bench press or the squat rack and they weigh 45 lbs.  Use these bars for the slower power lifts:  the bench press, the squat, and the deadlift.

OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING BARS:
The Training Station offers two different types of weightlifting bars:  A 44 lb bar for men (distinguished with a blue stripe on the sleeves), and a 33 lb bar for women (distinguished with a yellow stripe on the sleeves.)  In addition, the women’s Olympic weightlifting bar is slightly shorter in length than the men’s weightlifting bar, and is also smaller in diameter to accommodated the smaller grip of female lifters. The Olympic Weightlifting Bars are used for fast, dynamic movements such as the Snatch, the Clean & Jerk, and derivatives thereof.

The men's Olympic weightlifting bar (top) is slightly longer and and greater in diameter than the women's weightlifting bar (bottom.)

5 ft. STRAIGHT BAR:
The straight bar weighs 25 lbs. and is used for exercises requiring a barbell shorter than the standard 7 ft. power bar.  For example, barbell bicep curls or overhead lunges would be suitable exercises for the straight bar.

The 5 ft. Straight Bar is distinguished from the power and weightlifting bars by it's shorter length as well as the rubber-rimmed sleeves.

EZ Curl Bar:
The EZ Curl Bar is the only contoured bar at The Training Station and weighs 25 lbs.  It is distinguished by the contours and is used for exercises such as barbell bicep curls, preacher curls, and various tricep exercises:

The contoured EZ Curl Bar.

OLYMPIC DUMBBELL HANDLES:
The Training Station’s Olympic dumbbell handles are great for customizing the amount of weight on a dumbbell.  The fixed dumbbells go up to 100 lbs; however, should you wish to lift heavier dumbbells, just add weight plates to each end of the Olympic dumbbell handles for a customized dumbbell.

Olympic dumbbell handles.

Do The Best With What You Have

Photo from GeekPhilospher.com

Your workouts will be different because you will be different. There will be days when you feel rested, energetic, and upbeat. There will be days when every act feels harder than it should feel.

A workout will be really good when you feel really good. When you’re not feeling so good, you may not perform as well. Effort is what makes a workout good, not performance. Your best effort for that day — not some other day when you felt really great — is what matters most. If today you ran 10-minute miles, even though you are normally a 9.5-minute performer, then you had a good workout, if the best you had was 10-minute mile speed.

I’ve seen members look dejected after workouts; disappointed that the workout wasn’t as good as some other workout. That’s like an athlete feeling disappointing because he doesn’t equal his own record, each race!

There will only be sometimes when you have your absolute best stuff. But you will always be able to put out a good effort.

Run!

Don’t forget about the Training Station’s Saturday Morning Drills tomorrow morning at 8:00 am at the Piazza! Come out and complete an aerobic run and some sprint drills with a group of ALL LEVELS.  The Drills are free for Training Station members. Non-member fee is $10 which includes all day access to The Training Station.

Bench Press Clinic

Want to learn how to bench press, or get some tips on how to press with better form? Drop by the Training Station this Saturday, May 8th, at 9:00 am for our Bench Press Clinic. Phil will explain and demonstrate how to bench press and will critique each attendees’ form.

Clinics are $10 per person.  Members and non-members are welcome!