Muesli - a model for life!

Ok, so here I am back from a very drunken weekend in Prague. That didn't help my training one bit or did it? If you've been following the blog you will know we managed to cycle pretty quickly from Glasgow to Loch Lomond a few weeks ago.

So why the hell did my legs hurt so much from the walking?!

Well once I sobered up after being drunk for four days, I thought about it. When you walk you extend your leg forward, that means your hamstring and calf get stretched by the opposing muscles contracting. However when you press down on the pedal your leg never fully extends so you end up with powerful short strokes of the muscle but no power or strength over a long stroke of the muscle.

The problem doesn't really matter - it won't stop me being able to complete the cycle. What will happen though is that by limiting the movement of the limbs the muscles will start to contract and further restrict the movement causing more problems when trying to extend the legs and is one of the reasons I can't run for a mile despite being able to cycle 20+ miles.
So whats the next step? I could stop cycling and that would allow me to regain the full range of movement without any additional pain.

BUT

We all know thats not going to happen. I am far too stubborn to give in. Doing one kind of exercise is the problem. It's important to mix your exercise up to ensure that you are getting the most out of it - much the same way that Muesli is better for you than Corn Flakes. The wide mix in it has a better range of nutrients than the single ingredient alternative. Think of it this way...would you prefer to live on pasta for the rest of your life or have the option from an all you can eat buffet every day?

I used to do a lot of kick boxing and martial arts when I was younger; and thanks to my incredible sponge of a brain I can still remember all the exercises from then. Muscle Memory is great and helps you realise when you do things wrongly as it just doesn't feel right. So from now on my training will include some kick boxing exercises at home. I'll go over them later - I don't want to bore you with the details. Rest assured I shall not be posting images of me doing splits.