AdHoc weight training - good or bad

[swbca]

Starting over with competitive slalom in Men9 next spring - last tournament 1985 nationals in Men3 and have only free skied once every 5 years. That's a 35 year gap. Everything I have done since then does nothing for upper body; bike, ski, roller blade.

 

We have a weight machine and I have a full time desk job at home . . so I have been doing a set of Pull Downs on the machine every time I need a break from my desk - hoping to work up to pull ups. Been doing about 20 sets per day of 12 or 18 (multiples of a perfect passes) a day for 2 months. The weight I can do has advanced 50% since I started.

 

This all day approach of quick sessions is not a prescribed method that I have seen for resistance training. It suits my short attention span gives and me a 5 minute break from my desk several times a day. Is it counterproductive for strength and conditioning ? I know there are better ways but can this be "bad" in some way ? There are also other conditioning things I do on a more traditional schedule.

[Stefan]

@swbca if you have advanced 50% in weights this way it can't be bad..

[LakeboyWWK]

@swbca The method you are using is similar to a method used by strength athletes that was originally studied in the soviet union in the 1980's. Short intense sets of 3-5 reps with long rest intervals in between sets will increase your strength, without adding much bulk (muscle hypertrophy). The goal should be to increase your strength to weight ratio. You can learn more about this "greasing the groove" method by reading articles by Pavel Tsatsouline at strongfirst.com

[lpskier]

Ataboy @swbca and welcome back home. The first step in any fitness program is getting out of your chair and moving around. Keep doing what you are doing until it gets too easy or you get bored. Then add another exercise to what you are doing. If you can get to a circuit that involves a push (bench press, push up, etc.), a pull (like what you are doing now, dumbbell row, lat pull down, etc.) and a leg exercise of some sort, then you’ll really be on to something. A good leg exercise to start with: tie a ski handle to a fixed object that won’t tip over, with the handle in your hands, step back from the object to a comfortable position, using the handle slightly lean away from the object, putting just enough weight in your hands from the handle to give yourself balance, and then do body weight squats. When you can do 30, add in one leg squats using the same technique. Once you figure it out, you can probably do 30 two leg, and 20 one leg each leg in about two minutes, so it will work right in with how you working out now in short breaks from your desk.

[swbca]

@LakeboyWWK @lpskier lot of good information, thanks.

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Regarding leg strength, I have been studying the pro-tournaments on youtube. All of the men ski with their forward knee bent almost 90 degrees except late in the preturn and when reaching out over the buoy on very short line turns. I think that's fairly new in slalom technique. Older videos of the pros didn't do that so much and I recall attempting to use the legs like that only in rough water back when I was on top of my divisions.

 

Leg strength has to be VERY good to handle the loads in a near squat leg position. I don't understand what it does - any comment ?

 

 

[Stefan]

@swbca not everyone bend a lot, look at Adam Caldwell here, World Record in +35y 34mph with 1,5@43off;

[swbca]

You're right he is a pretty straight up skier . . I think there is a teenager that skis like that in the top 10 of all the pros - - cant remember his name - - still wonder why so many ski with a deep knee.

[lpskier]

@Stefan @adamhcaldwell What a chicken. He didn’t two hand six ball at 41. He does noticeably start his edge change before the first wake, particularly on the 135 side. What a great skier.

[skiboyny]

Are you currently skiing?

[lpskier]

@skiboyny Who?

[skiboyny]

@lpskier sorry question was for @swbca

 

[swbca]

@lpskier After a 35 year gap, I am starting over in Men9 at 75 years old. It may be a pipe dream, but I am hoping to catch up with my friends from way back who are still skiing and placing in the nationals in Men 7,8,9. I am healthy and active but have no idea how long it takes to rebuild SKILLS after so many years. SKILL recovery is the biggest unknown. I have never stopped "visualizing" the experience, but that's different than muscle memory.

 

A QUESTION If its convenient to do certain weight training that involves 50 lifts at a light weight, what does that do that do is different than doing 10 lifts at a heavy weight. I just started learning to workout with a kettlebell which feels great after a few days. I live in two places and I have to have something portable at our second home. The kettlebell is light for some traditional weight train moves, but if 50 lifts does something for my strength, the kettlebell is a convenient item to have at both homes.

[Joeprunc]

I can't comment on the heavy short # of reps vs light and large # reps. But I've heard kettlebells are great to work multiple muscles at the same time.

 

If kettlebells are your go to, you might want to look at getting a set of adjustable KBs. Small foot print and easy enough to have at both houses.

[lpskier]

I think that as a general rule, multiple reps of a light weight is good for fitness and a few reps of a heavy weight builds muscle. So if you want to get in shape, do the former; if you want to get stronger, do the latter. @bkreis is a fitness coach and might add a lot to this conversation. I can tell you that Brian can create a program for you using a minimal amount of gear, and I can tell you that he knows his stuff.

[LakeboyWWK]

@swbca as a general rule sets with rep ranges 1-5 will build strength, 6-12 will build muscle size, reps of 13 and greater will build muscle endurance. There is some overlap ie: sets in the 6-12 will also build strength but primarily muscle size. It worth doing sets in all ranges, but if you have a specific goal such as strength to weight ratio, it's most effective to stay in the 1-5 range.

[skiboyny]

@swbca I think it's great you giving skiing another kick in the pants. You have a pretty lofty goal and that's great as well. A word of caution, recovery is your biggest stumbling block at your age. A lot has changed in 35 years and although your mind is ready for the challenge your body will have other ideas. You need to be patient with yourself, if you head straight out to the course and do multiple passes days in a row I fear your dream will be short lived. Absolutely do a strength program, with a emphasis on core strength. I would suggest keeping the reps on the high side at first 10-12 using a weight you can handle in good form until your body gets used to the workload. When you can complete 12 increase the weight. Give yourself 2 days before you workout again. Your muscles grow when they rest and recover and as I said recovery is the greatest hurdle. Listen carefully to your body and give it the time and space you need to return to competitive skiing. Push to hard and to fast and your comeback will be short lived. Best of luck.

[BG1]

@swbca I have no ties what so ever with FPM but I think you should invest in their program if you’re really serious about working your way back to the podium.

 

https://www.flowpointmethod.com/the-program

 

[MichaelGoodman]

This type of thing really is interesting to me I know I took ten years off from playing

hockey and it was brutal to get back in hockey shape. That was 30 years ago and have never gone more than 3 weeks since without playing until corona shut it down. Hope it is not to hard to get started again. I always thought it was incredible that when Lance Armstrong got out of the hospital he could barley ride his bike 1/4 of a mile and he went from basically zero to winning so many Tour de Frances muscle memory must be a super

strong thing. I hope you keep us posted I look forward to see how you do. Good Luck