Monday, November 4, 2013

Update on what's been going on

Sorry about the long break in posts, I have been really busy with a lot of stuff going on in my life, both fitness related and just being a busy college student. This post is basically going to just be a recap of what I’ve been up to, and some information and opinions on some other things. It may also turn into something completely different as I write, who knows. We will find out though, as I stick to my rule of only checking for spelling and grammar not content when I look over at the end. (For those who may question why I don’t really plan what I am going to write or why I don’t check what I’ve written, it is simply because I want people to read this and hear me, so I type how I talk, and you can’t take something back when you speak, so I maintain that rule.) Anyway, let’s get into it.

As a Kinesiology major at the University of Maryland, we are required to take physical activity classes. These can range from cardio-kickboxing to basketball to bowling. Well this semester, I decided to take two of them because it fit into my schedule and I wanted to. This semester I am taking intermediate step aerobics and intermediate swimming. The intermediate really just means that there is a range of total beginners to people who are really advanced.

 For those who don’t know much about step aerobics, it is steady state cardio done by doing different choreography based around a step. We will do different kicks, and other “dances” in order to get our workout in. There is definitely some coordination required because you need to hear the instruction and then figure out the right move to make. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be. When I registered, my thought was that it is basically glorified walking, and sometimes I still feel like that, but when I start thinking that, our teacher shows us why it is more than that and will push us harder or make us do harder choreography. After we finish with the aerobics part, we will then do different bodyweight or light weight exercises to do some strength training as well. It is definitely something people should try for the sake of it, I mean it is quite interesting. Plus, admittedly, being 1 of 6 guys in a class of 40 isn’t the worst thing either.

For swimming, especially intermediate swimming, coming from a swimming background makes this class pretty easy. For the first few weeks we were doing mostly technique and stroke work, not real swimming workouts. Instead of tailoring the workout for different abilities (we separate into lanes of different abilities, I am in one of the top 2 lanes) the teacher would just write up a plan and have us do it. Since my lane is all people who had previously swam competitively, we would finish the workout in maybe 15 minutes and be done. In a way I liked it because last year I would swim occasionally but most use it as active recovery from other things, now I was getting that in class. Recently we finished doing stroke work, so we now do actual workouts, but even for a while it was still just one workout and we would still finish way ahead of everyone else and be done with plenty of time to spare. Now, finally the teacher has modified the workouts, and given options to make us do more work in the same amount of time. We generally still finish before most of the other class, but by the time we do finish, we actually feel like we did a workout, obviously nothing compared to what we had all done in high school but still something where we were pretty fatigued.

Due to taking step aerobics and swimming, both of which being on Tuesdays and Thursdays, my plan has changed quite dramatically from what I was hoping to do at the beginning of the semester. My goal originally was to squat daily, well I’m at the point where I can come into the gym 3-4 days a week outside of that. I can’t come in Mondays simply because I am way too busy, so I try and do Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturday and/or Sunday, but even getting all of that is sometimes a stretch. I live 20 minutes walking from the gym, so the inconvenience is sometimes an issue where I don’t have the time to make the trek, then workout, then trek back. While that is just an excuse, it is still a reason I’m not coming in as often as I’d like.

With me not coming in as often, I now officially do squat whenever I come in, except I have only been front squatting because of an article I read basically saying why front squats are better than back squats (http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/when-in-doubt-do-front-squats-25-tips-for-better-front-squats). I will go to a heavy triple and then add in some lighter sets for volume. I plan on going back to back squats once I hit an actual plateau. I also do a lot less conditioning work, both for time sake and because I rationalize that I get it during step aerobics and swimming, so my focus becomes squatting, then pressing (I will alternate strict press and bench press) to a heavy triple, and then depending on time, I will work on pull ups. If I have time after that, I will either do a quick metcon or I’ll do some core work or work on different skills. Recently I have begun working on handstands and handstand pushups, I still have a long way to go on them, but I am progressing.

I have unfortunately recently encountered some knee pain in my left knee. For a while it was only during heavy squats, so I would just lighten the load because I wanted to continue squatting to avoid losing too much strength and to maintain neurological proficiency. Then when I would feel fine, I would have step aerobics which is pretty high impact and my knee sometimes will flair up and feel really tender and then it becomes even worse so I have been in a constant struggle of wanting to maintain and not wanting to be in pain, and then when I have taken rest, and feel totally fine, I’ll go back to squatting and then when I try and push it even a little, the pain starts to come back again. It seems that I am in a vicious circle of even though I rest, I am still doing some high impact work with step aerobics and therefore my knee never truly gets to rest. I am considering working on pistols (single leg squats) in the event that it might be muscular imbalances and not structural, and if it is structural, I’ll find out really soon after starting.

We shall see what will happen with my knee and with these classes, hopefully everything ends up well and I really want my knee to feel better. If not, I am considering buying knee sleeves for a little compression but mostly just for the warmth and increase blood flow to help with preventing pain.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give a good update.

Like always, if you have any questions or things you want me to talk about, either comment or let me know personally.

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