Blogging... why do it? whats it about?

I think its safe to say that given my absence over the few years that I've lost the drive and motivations that made me blog in the past.  Past motivations include: work, charity cycles and the training to be able to complete them, technology as a whole and a general want to better certain aspects of my life. 

Whats changed?

Not a lot to be honest, I haven't changed much over the years; my priorities have; work pressures changed; my family life has changed a lot - given I have a family of my own now as opposed to just a close bunch of very good friends in the past. 

Why blog?

I think in the past my drive/motivation was spurred on by both friends to help build the drive, and by blogging about it to maintain it during the downtime between chatting with friends.  Health got in the way of the cycling unfortunately and especially earlier this year when it hospitalised me again. 

Technology used to motivate my curiosity but recently with working up to 70 hours a week that's taken its toll and meant that I don't like sitting with a laptop or PC working on my own projects - hoping that will change soon though.

I also passed my big boy motorbike test last year and spent a fair bit of time working on the "new" used bike to get it roadworthy and usable - its 17yrs old and like me has its fair share of issues but my stubbornness about not letting things lie has led me to fix all but the last issue with it, I'll work on that over the coming weeks so I can then get it on the road and bum around for a while.

Life though has had the biggest changes, thanks to very good friends, lets call them Messrs F, H, R, C, and M along with Mme MMM, I managed over the years to come out of my shell and become more confident about who I was and my life, including the hell that is caused by my bowel.  I can honestly say that without their help, comedic timing and general overall acceptance that I was a computer nerd that I wouldn't be where I am today.

More recently a chat with a friend over pizzas at the weekend drove home a lot of thoughts that I'd already been thinking.  I really hope that all the stresses over the past year or two will dissipate over the next few months - no one can really tell if that is the case or not but I hope so.

 

Am I going to blog more regularly?

Who knows? at the moment I'm suffering from a bit of brain drain - I think the above has all taken its toll - but given a little time (including down time) I should manage to get back to my old self.

 

A day in the life...

Some people find it hard to lose weight, some people find it hard to gain, some are easily motivated and others are difficult to movitate. I've found the key to both, is having a routine, but not mindnumbingly so.

What I mean is to have a routine of doing things but not necessarily doing the same things over and over. Exercising , through various happenings this past year, is medically important to me, but doing the same thing day in day out would drive me insane - more so than I already am - so I have to mix it up a bit but at the same time I have to keep a routine of always exercising at the same time. Its easier to actually get started if you set aside the same time every day for a particular function.

At the moment, my life consists of eating, work and working out. My day starts at 5:30am follows the same pattern every day, but certain key features vary to ensure that I dont stagnate or go mental. For example, even though I do the same amount of pressups and situps every day I dont always do them in the same order.

One night I will lift weights, another I will box, the next I may work my legs or only do a basic workout (120 pressups and 100 situps). But I will always work out at the same time. Your body becomes accustomed to the energy expenditure and will begin to expect it making it easier to get started.

I dont use a gym, machines are the wrong size for me, and I hate using earphones as the cable often gets in the way of weights, so I work out at home. The benefit is that I can still watch tv whilst doing crunches, or pressups or weights which helps pass the time a bit more quickly.

Feel free to leave a comment!

New Theme Tune

As I said the other day, I am going to not only cycle a 400 mile cycle in august but a week later I will be running in a half marathon. That means an insane training schedule as I have to admit at being one of the worlds worst runners. When I was 16 I used to run an 11 minute mile, but that was it, I wouldnt be able to go any further. To be able to complete the half marathon I not only need to complete each mile in 8 minutes or less.

Now, taking 3 minutes a mile off your time is hard enough, adding another 12 miles to your total is even harder. Mix that with trying to build mass and stamina for a 400 mile cycle and you have a totally insane ambition.

Its these insane ambitions that get me through life so I've selected myself a new theme tune:

How am I going to manage the training?

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1	Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
2	Week 1
3	cycle training		Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 30 miles	Cycle 50 miles
4		rest	run for 20 mins	rest	Fartlek: 4x6 mins quick pace with 3 mins slow jog/walk between each	rest	20 mins easy run	rest
5	Week 2
6	cycle training			Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 50 miles
7		30 mins slow run	rest	15 mins quick run	rest	Fartlek: 4x6 mins quick pace with 2 mins slow jog/walk between each	rest	20 mins medium pace run
8	Week 3
9	cycle training		Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles		cycle 40 miles	cycle 50 miles
10		rest	30 mins medium pace	rest	4x200m hill runs (medium gradient hill), walk/jog back, runs to be done fast	rest	30 mins easy run	rest
11	Week 4
12	cycle training			cycle 15 miles		cycle 15 miles	Cycle 50 miles
13		40 mins easy run	rest	6x5 mins quick pace efforts with 3 mins jog between each	rest	30 mins easy run	rest	rest
14	Week 5
15	cycle training	Cycle 15 miles		cycle 15 miles			cycle 30 miles	Cycle 50 miles
16		45 mins easy run	rest	30 mins easy run	rest	30 mins easy run	rest	45 mins easy run
17	Week 6
18	cycle training		Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles			Cycle 50 miles
19		rest	6x5 mins quick pace runs with 2 mins jog between each	rest	45 mins medium pace run	rest	4x200m hill runs, walk/jog back, fast paced runs	30 mins easy run
20	Week 7
21	cycle training		cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles		cycle 50 miles
22		rest	50 mins easy run	rest	20 mins fast run	rest	4x200m hill runs, walk back, fast paced runs	rest
23	Week 8
24	cycle training	Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles		Cycle 15 miles
25		40 mins quick run	rest	50 mins easy run	rest	45 mins medium paced run	rest	60 mins easy run
26	Week 9
27	cycle training
28		rest	4x6 mins medium paced runs, 3 mins jog between each	rest	cycle 60 miles	cycle 60 miles	cycle 60 miles	cycle 60 miles
29	Week 10
30	cycle 60 miles	cycle 60 miles	fall down drunk	fall down drunk		fly home from berlin	100 mins easy run	rest
31	Week 11
32		rest	rest	30 mins easy run	rest	30 mins easy run	rest	half marathon
33

Welcome back!

Its been a while since I posted anything, partly cos I've been boring and living the work-sleep cycle instead of doing anything exciting.

It's all changed this week. Saturday and Sunday saw an epic 100 mile cycle over 2 days from Dunoon to Inverary. Monday saw me have to bargain the hell out of my doc to not hospitalise me from problems due to Crohns - more details to follow later this week. Tuesday night saw me signed up for a half marathon in Glasgow...a week after the big cycle in August. If I learn to swim, this time next year I should be ready for the Ironman in Hawaii!

Right about now I am considering psychiatric treatment, if thats not forthcoming I think I may have to start training this week!

Feel free to leave a comment!

Two posts in one day?

As with any exercise, diet is important; It's doubly important when you suffer from digestive issues like I do. You need to make sure you eat the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. You can't do that with ready meals. No way. No how!

Friends are constantly amazed that I don't own a microwave. It's not that I am living in the dark ages. I used to have one but used it so little that I decided not to bring it with me when I moved. Why not?

We'll mainly because I can cook as quickly using traditional methods as most people can using the microwave.

For example, take dinner on a training night; normally lots of boiled rice and turkey in sweet chilli sauce. How long does it take to cook rice in a microwave? about the same amount of time as a pot, and whilst thats being done I chop up the turkey, and griddle it in a hot dry pan. The heat ensures that the turkey is sealed on the outside leaving all the protein, and fats sealed within it. lastly, chuck some vegetables in a pot of boiled water and leave them there for 2 mins. Drain them and dunk them in cold water. Add the vegetabled to the turkey and cover in sweet chilli sauce, shave some ginger on to it. Drain the rice and serve...sorted. Total time: 18 mins.

Ok so if you used the microwave you have to throw a tiny plastic pot in the bin whereas with my method you have to do some washing up, but I know exactly what I am eating and I control my portions; so I can increase the protein/carbs as needed.

Secondly, cooking gives you time to relax, you can work out some stress whilst you are battering out the turkey; you can deep breathe whilst stirring the rice...its almost catharcic

Feel free to leave a comment!

Motivation...or lack of

This weeks been pretty bad for me mentally, I've not been able to get myself motivated at all. Even though I cycled to/from work once this week and was on a little high, I've since found it really hard to get myself into a state of mind that will help me train.

I think the mental effort of work (I do a job where I am constantly having to think about ways to get around very strict and limiting rules of the products we use), the stress of my inability to manage my personal time properly and the lack of energy caused by a particularly bad week (healthwise) for me has taken its toll.

I know I SHOULD do some housework; I should be doing that extra bit of work documentation; I should meet friends and family and be a little more social. Instead, all I can be bothered doing is sitting with my feet up doing as little as possible yet getting annoyed with myself.

The strange thing is, as soon as I start ANY of the chores I need to do I get so engrossed by it time seems to fly past.

And thats the same for anything, everyone thinks "I can't be bothered" with the Gym; but I bet you that if you get up off your butt and actually go, five minutes into your workout you will be glad you did go; 20 mins later you will be thinking I cant believe I didn't want to come; and an hour later you will be feeling a lot better about everything.

Its a pity we cant get that feeling BEFORE going to the gym. The thing is you can; if you stick to a good routine (and by that I mean getting to the gym not the same exercise at the gym) your body and mind will adapt and actually cause you to look forward to getting there. So much so that you may well find that you are feeling better about going before you even get there.

Feel free to leave a comment!

Never do things half-heartedly...

Tomorrow is the first cycle since I got back last year. I've done a few km here and there on the bikes in the gym but I hate those bikes. The seats are too wide. The pedals aren't under the seat (they are slightly forward to make it easier to pedal) and the handlebars are too wide and high. Basically, I HATE the gym bikes. So much so I can only use them for a 3km cycle before I am a: bored and b: sore in the bum.

Exercise should never be unenjoyable. If you don't have fun then you shouldn't be doing it. Whats the point? Sure, I lift weights and I get pain and muscle burn. BUT...I enjoy the feeling I get from it after lifting the weights. The endorphins that are released plus all the extra oxygen going to your brain only help to make my mood feel better.

As I don't like the bikes in the gym, and my weekends are pretty packed that leaves me three options

1. Cycle in the morning before work
2. Cycle at night after I get home
3. Cycle to/from work

well...number 1 is discounted for two reasons, first I'd have to get up at the crack of dark to be able to get out and cycle a decent distance, then get home shower and get my butt to work; second, its still pitch black outside at 6am and pretty dangerous to cycle without a bright "nerd" jacket on.

number 2...well I get home and go to the gym 3 nights a week so those are ruled out, the others I normally spend an hour in traffic coming home and by then my brain is fried.

number 3... I leave at 7am when its light, and get to work just before 8 (15 minutes longer than if I drove). At night, because I have to drive through Glasgow, the hour it will take me to cycle is actually quicker than the drive home...and as I leave work at 5.15 its still light enough to see.

So yeah, I do 28 miles my first day of training but hey, there's no incentive like having to get to work on time or getting home to keep you motivated. So yeah, I may not have cycled in a while but tomorrow I'll be right back where I was a few months ago and to be honest...I'm looking forward to it.

Feel free to leave a comment!

you what?!?!!!!

Not content with cycling from Prague to Berlin in august, I am seriously thinking about doing the Artemis 100. Now, there would be no point at all in doing the shorter distances. I'm in it for the challenge, and why do anything by half measures...to its the full 132.5km for me!

I should be reasonably fit by then, the cycle is 2 weeks after the ride from Prague to Berlin and as we are going through Bavarian Alps I should be able to cope with the highlands!

Wish me luck, or send me a straight jacket...

from deepest darkest Peru...

Sometimes even the most positive of us has deep dark thoughts that do nothing for our demeanour, social life or work life. It's a fact of life that at some point you will get stressed beyond your abilities to easily shrug it off. This week has been one of those weeks for me.

I've been in a pretty foul mood all week. Culminating last night in an inability to even concentrate on lifting weights, something which I normally find helps clear my mind. I almost dropped a 120Kg stack of weights when in the middle of straightening up for a leg press I just gave up.

After that it was downhill for the night, I could press less and less weight, even things which I normally find easy were a struggle. Although, looking at the state of my hands you'd think I did more last night than I do normally...

No-one. Absolutely no-one can go through life without venting occasionally, always being switched on and always giving 100%. Occasionally you have to give a little. I struggle to allow that to happen. I very rarely take my full quota of annual leave at work - in fact, in the 6yrs since I have graduated, I've always carried at least 7 of my 20 days over. One year I carried 14 days.

Relaxation and venting are not in my nature yet I have to make them part of me. The blog has helped somewhat.

A good nights sleep seemed to help put things in perspective but more than that was a couple of good friends (you know who you are) letting me vent with them. I guess the next few days and the upcoming weekend will tell if I have truly de-stressed.

If not, theres always kickboxing!

The countdown begins...

And so, the end is near, no more resting at weekends.

No more late nights on Saturdays and fry ups on Sundays. In 4 weeks time we will be out on bikes again with the first of many weekend training cycles in preparation for this years charity cycle.

Who will fall prey to over-confidence? who will fall prey to my secret weapon? a root ginger muffin and a capuccino. No one can keep up with me on that - at least not for 20 or so miles :-)

The first cycle will be pretty tame by the standards we set last year at the end of the training, but given that none of us have really been out on bikes since then, we'll have to start with a nice flat route and then build up to the same sorts of hills as we used to do. I am sure though that we will soon have that mileage and hill climbing go up.

I'm going to make a more concentrated effort of cycling to work at least twice a week once I am able to maintain at least 14 mph (on a mountain bike thats tough going).

The man who went up a hill and came down a mountain...

Well..thats the cycle decided. August 2009 cant come soon enough to get the same sense of camaraderie and fulfilment that we got from last year. Although, I am NOT looking forward to the buttache and the burning aching pain in my legs from climbing hills. And we are going to climb a LOT of hills this year. The edge of the Bavarian Alps to be exact. Yikes!

Looking at it on Google earth the cycle from Prague to Berlin will require an effort of around 2000ft climb over most of the first day through the mountains between the Chzek Republic and Germany.

To be honest, I can't wait. After this weeks newly found weight lifting abilities I'm going to attack harder and harder to build mass and strength, then in April, I'm going to maintain the same level of weight lifting but increase the cycling to 30 miles 4x a week.

I reckon by the end of the summer I should be a lot fitter than I was last year.


Feel free to leave a comment!

When to realise your limits

Yesterday was a routine day of blood tests, being poked and prodded and various other tests that doctors could imagine. Or so I thought. I have recently moved to a new doctor and hospital so rather than just have the usual small amount of bloods, a whole gamut (ooooh fancy...I never thought I would actually use that word in a sentence) of tests were ran on me.

I'd planned ahead and had booked the day off work...good no problems there then. So this morning I woke to the residual stiffness from the DOMS mentioned a few days ago. So thought "Excellent, back to the gym today". When I got to the gym it seemed a bit busier than usual so the bikes were all used up... So I did my customary 3 second stretch and hit the weights.

WOW! what a difference that made. I was able to up my leg press from the usual 73kg to well over 100kg and bump up the reps to 30. Now, when you only weigh 58kg, I reckon thats pretty good going! Again, I was able to up my chest press to 60kg and increased the reps to 24. I was starting to get a bit worried...what was going on...how after no training for two days, no warm up and having quite a lot of blood taken was I able to do all this?

I'm still puzzling this out to be honest. With the lack of blood I should have been struggling for air as there is less haemoglobin to transport oxygen to muscles. Blood pressure is also lower as theres less volume of blood.

So anyway whats going on? The only thing I can think of is that because I didnt get the heart rate up, my heart was able to beat with a little more force to get the blood to where it needed to be. I really don't know why...answers on a postcard please...although a cheque would get my attention more!

Feel free to leave a comment!

A great chinese man once wrote...

No it's not a dirty limerick...hear me out because I don't often spout philosophical ideology...

A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore, the stiff and unbending is the
disciple of death.

The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.
Thus and army without flexibility never wins a battle
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and the strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.

Attributed to Lao Tsu

This saying has stayed with me for a long time, since the first time I read it in the early/mid 90's. Thanks to a friend who got me into this sort of stuff. I don't mean for one second that if you are stiff and inflexible then you will go around murdering people. Nor do I mean that this is aimed purely at your physical nature.

Instead take it as an approach to life that life is constantly evolving and as such your attitude, outlook and thoughts must also change towards the forces pushing or pulling on you. The way you train, the way you eat and even the way you interact with friends and family will have to evolve at some point or other or you will risk losing what you have striven to achieve.

Normal service shall resume shortly.
Feel free to leave a comment!

DOMS WARS - A new hope

Well, last night whilst an excellent but short work out has taken its toll on me this week. An improper cool down, followed by total immobility (i.e. going to sleep early) has resulted in PAIN. Lots of it. AAARGH!

This if the first time in a long time that I've had to resort to medical intervention and swalled a few ibuprofen tablets to help reduce the inflammation of the muscles in my foreams, arms, shoulders and back... Strangely even though I lifted heavily with my legs I am not sore there - maybe I kick about a lot in my sleep? hmm...

Why am I so sore today? well on Saturday I had to take a few goes at getting a decent video for the chin up post. Got a good work out but doing 30 chin ups using only your fingertips to grip with left my forearms in tatters on Sunday. So when I did lift on Sunday I had to alter my grip slightly which meant that my arms, back and even neck were worked harder than usual.

The result..."AAAARGH!"

I've been putting up with it for about 8 hours so far but enough is enough...had to take some pain killers and will spend about an hour under the shower on "Hot Massage" setting tonight to try and blast some of the pain out of me.

Feel free to leave a comment!

We are no longer the knights who say "Ni"

We are now the knights who say "ecky ecky ecky patang!" Well...thats what my legs feel like they are doing. So today, I decided that since my arms hurt after take after take making that chip up video that I would mainly work my legs.

Starting with a 5 minute cycle at 30km/h to warm up, I then stretched my hamstrings using this method:



With my legs suitably warm, I then went on to the leg press. Now its been a while since I did this so I started light - 73kg and did 20x Squats twice with my feet at the bottom of the foot board on the leg press machine - this worked my quads and could feel the burn shortly after starting. I NEVER fully lock our my knees when doing squats, thats asking for trouble, instead I keep a 10 degree bend in my knee and hold it for 5 seconds, then down (take 2 seconds to go down) and then up (again taking two seconds to do this).

Then keeping the same weight I moved my feet right up to the top of the foot board. This worked the tops of the backs of the thighs and shortly I could feel them loosening up a little as they heated up. I could only manage 10x 73kg squats twice doing this.

Lastly, I did some calf presses, now, I couldnt actually lift the 73kg from a squat position to a full leg straight position using the calf press stance, so I squatted the weight normally until my legs were straight and slowly walked my feet so they were off the board apart from the balls of my feet. Then slowly, drop your heels and then just as slowly start to raise them. You'll feel the contraction in your calves if you are doing this right, I try to keep my feet as close together as possible when doing this.

Whilst I am trying to bulk up a little, my main aim is to increase strength and stamina in the muscles and thats just what I am achieving by never unstressing the legs during a squat.

Feel free to leave a comment!

No Gym? No Problem!

People trained before gyms. Gladiators in the Roman Empire. Trojans and Spartans before them. Rocky used russian mountains in Rocky 4.



This week has been a long hard week at work, long nights and early morning compounded the usual motivational problem of getting to a gym on a cold dark winters night.

Training has to be done though so improvisation is the key. Being single (at the moment) means I am lucky enough to be able to leave my weights whereever I feel they are handy. I have dumbells next to my couch so I can use them whilst watching TV. Isolating my arms is easy as I can rest my elbow on the couch armrest.

If you want to train, not getting to a gym isn't going to stop you. All you have to do is improvise a little. I normally work my arms and legs quite heavily at the gym and at home I do the same.

Where I would do a lateral pull down in the gym, I jump up to grab on to my doorframes and do wide grip underarm chin ups on it... and I HAVE to use a wide grip or I risk pulling the frame off the wall as its over 100years old. What makes it a harder workout is that I am having to grip with only the tips of my fingers so my forearms get a workout as well as my upper arms and back.



For situps, I hook my feet under the edge of the couch and use that to stabilise myself (realistically you shouldn't need a weight on your feet to do a sit-up/crunch).

Benchpresses are easy at home - I use the bench, however as I am on my own, and the bar could do a lot of damage at 60kg should I drop it, I leave the collars off the weight bar. This makes it easier for me to get out, if I drop it the weights will unbalance and slip off the bar, so I dont get hurt (not too badly). It also means you have to be more balanced and controlled in your press because the weights will slide off the end of the bar if you aren't.

So, the next time you say you dont have the time to get to the gym...stop lying to yourself, use your house, improvise.

Feel free to leave a comment!

EncHELLada

Enchiladas are evil! Actually, any vegetable is evil!

Let me explain.

After pretty major surgery in 2002 due to a case of Crohns Disease and my own mismanagement of my medication I'm left with the distinct inability to process fibrous (non-soluble fibre) vegetables.

So why bring it up? Well...over the past few months I've been working hard at the gym. 3 nights a week lifting weights and slowly working up to being able to bench almost twice my own weight, as well as being able to squat the same. Yesterday whilst out with the guys - after a few too many beers - we needed food and I saw that enchiladas were on the menu. I am a massive fan of spicy yet uncomplicated foods like enchiladas, chilli etc. So I decided on them. I didnt count on all the vegetables, fresh herbs and rich tomato sauce with their skins still on.

Its quite quickly undone all the good of my training with me having lost 3kg (about 6.5lbs) in one day. Now, I know that the weight loss is mainly dehydration and I will not have lost muscle mass that quickly. However, dehydration doesn't go away when your guts settle down, it takes days (up to a week) to overcome the full effects of dehydration and maybe even longer till you are back to normality.

The most important thing you can do is drink. Drink regularly. Your body will be trying to flush out something that it doesn't agree with, its best to let it.

Now, when you drink try to use electrolytic drinks (dyoralite works much better) and will help you more than just water. When you do eat, add a little extra salt to your food, the salt will help with water retention, normally a bad thing but when it feels like you are trying to expel your spine each time you go to the toilet, it can help you recover a little more quickly.

So whats the point in this post? Simple, when you are training, make sure you understand what eating certain foods can do to you, and if you are in any doubt, stick with the tried and tested foods.

Feel free to leave a comment!

Tight hamstrings? I bet I can beat you!

For a long time my lifestyle, health and work have meant that I do a lot of sitting. This has had the effect of shortening my hamstrings to stupid proportions. I think I may actually need a sumo wrestler to be able to massage them loose again.

Think I am kidding? think again...If you raise your leg to waist height how tight does it feel? not too bad I bet, run your hand along the back of your thigh...how do those tendons feel? tight?

Here's mine!

You can almost hear those tendons go twangggggggg! That's as straight as I can make my leg whilst standing and raising my right leg to 90 degrees to the floor....and even then I had to prop it up on a radiator to get it that straight.

It does have its benefits, I can contract my leg a lot quicker than you would think; quicker than dumbo can say "jimny cricket!"

Its got its downsides, a lot of energy is wasted just straightening the leg - and when you are cycling thats a no-no.

So to resolve it, I'm going to use two things, Dynamic Stretching and good old fashioned stubbornness.

What is Dynamic stretching?

Basically tricking the leg into stretching further than normal. This involves gentle swings of the leg forwards and backwards gradually getting higher and higher each time. Around 10 to 15 swings on each leg should be enough. After that you start to look silly. The stretches can be done early in the morning (be careful not to force it) as this will set the length of muscle spindle for the rest of the day.

Why does it work?

This works by using the properties of muscle spindles. A muscle spindle is a sensor in a muscle that senses amount of stretch and speed of stretch. By gradually taking the leg higher and higher the muscle spindle allows it to go safely and lengthen the muscle. If the muscle is forced then a stretch reflex is initiated which causes a reflex contraction (shortening) of the muscle. This is called ballistic stretching and can damage muscles and lets face it, I don't need any help damaging my already stretched to their limits hamstrings!

Although, when you tear a tendon they tend to heal a lot looser...maybe thats an idea...

Feel free to leave a comment!

how to spot a cyclist

Ok...so its not that difficult normally, they are the ones that just shot across a red light with little regard for your, their or anyone elses personal safety. But there are ways and means of spotting them whilst they are not on the deadliest (and therefore one of the coolest) modes of transport.

Take a look here at our regular cyclist. You will note that his proportions are all wrong.

Years of sitting in the saddle have made his body adapt and do strange things. You can clearly see a lack of head hair, helmet rub and constant abuse by wind, rain, and mud - as well as the occasional trip through a hedge - have left little need for hair. The arms have grown a little longer, to be able to stave off lower back pain whilst constantly leaning forwards and to help absorb more bumps... and the legs have grown slightly shorter. The straighter the leg, the easier it is to push down on the pedal.

In case you were wondering...thats me!

Feel free to leave a comment!

Reach for the stars, you dirty animal!

Most training works on your endurance and strength. That's what you are aiming for most of the time, apart from when you want to get up short steep hills - or when you want to explode out of starting blocks.

The best way to build fast twitch muscles is by using plyometric exercises. A plyometric contraction involves first a rapid muscle lengthening movement, followed by a short resting phase, then an explosive muscle shortening movement, which enables the muscles that work together in doing the particular motion.

Things like Karate, Thai Kickboxing, Capoiera all rely on the ability to expel energy quickly. The movements, forms and training used within them all help develop tast twitch fibres. Kung Fu's tend not to rely on explosive power and instead rely on smooth movement, reading body language and technique over the strength required in the external martial arts.

So how do you know if you need to develop fast twitch muscle fibres?

Try this. Stand next to a wall, feet flat, now raise your arm so that you reach up the wall as far as you go. Mark it (mentally if you dont want to put a mark on your wall), now standing in the same position and without crouching, jump as high as you can and touch the wall with your arm upstretched again. You should be able to get at least 30cm (1ft) higher, if you can manage more then you have plenty of fast twitch fibres. If you can only manage about 10-20cm more then you need to develop the fast twitch fibres.

Fast twitch fibres get tired really quickly, exercising them wont help their stamina, however it will help the efficiency and the number of fibres, thereby making you able to explode out longer when you need to.

Feel free to leave a comment!