The "Off Season" Begins

The off season has begun and currently my ride time has slowed with other pursuits in exercise increasing. This doesn't mean sitting on my butt eating Oreos (man I love Oreos too) playing on the computer and spending the day sampling and chopping up beats or trolling players on Xbox Live. No instead it means a shift of focus to other kinds of exercise to keep in shape and even increase condition through the winter.

What is your exercise routine John? You may ask...and I am glad you did.

Well it is a mix of things I have picked up here and there but mostly based on what is known as "prison workout" exercises which focus on strength training using body weight, need a very limited amount of space and what little equipment may be needed is usually already in your house (chair, table edge etc.). The exercises tend to be simple in nature and can be done as fast or as slow as you like, long breaks between sets or short breaks and any number of variances of motion.

Anyways on to my personal routine:

Sit Ups
100
90 second break
80
90 second break
60
90 second break
40
90 second break
20
This gives a grand total of 300 Sit Ups although my number has gone up this is always my minimum and my breaks have also gotten shorter between sets. I also use a slightly modified version of the Sit Up which involves only going back towards the floor about 3/4 of the way instead of full flat to floor. I have found it very effective so far, but time will be the true test.

I also realize there is a lot of back and forth regarding Sit ups vs Crunches and how Sit Ups are bad for you and so on but if done properly one is no worse than the other. Most of what I have read and understand discusses past injuries, weak lower abdominal strength (ironic) and poor form when doing these exercises...use your own discretion.

Mountain Climbers
100
90 second break
80
90 second break
60
90 second break
40
90 second break
20
Again my numbers have changed a bit and I have shortened my rest time but as before this is the minimum regiment I stick to. This gives a very similar workout to the crunch but also adds in a bit of trapezius, deltoid and pectoralis work due to balancing and weight positioning through the movement though not as intensive as a push up would be for the same region.

Push ups
5 sets of 20 with 60 second break between sets.
I keep these a bit lighter on my workout. I tend to bulk up in the chest and shoulders quickly and it is not what I want...the perks of being slightly barrel chested I guess. I do however vary the type of push ups I do and have come to have a love/hate relationship with "Spiderman Push Ups" which are pretty intense and add some core zones worked during push ups, well worth trying if you are a glutton for punishment.

Soon to add in running as a part of my off season fitness schedule. I will have to take that slowly as I have to be careful of my knees, but I am hoping to at least make a 5k a couple times a week part of my routine. I used to do this distance on a treadmill 4-5 times a week with no issue but I know that treadmill running and real world running are very different...and it has been a few years since I even did that. This will be reflected in my Strava feed as well so if you are following along hopefully we will be able to see improvement together.

Still saving for a trainer, hoping that I will have one as a gift to myself for Christmas which would be great but again time will tell on that as I have other things I have to pay for as well.

So that is my winter schedule in a nutshell though there may be some changes to it as things go along, having built in flexibility to a workout schedule/routine is important. To me it allows a person the ability to add or remove items as needed and to miss a day or days without unnecessary guilt which can cause a person to throw the whole thing out the window. Missing days is allowed, sometimes you don't have the time or are just burnt out or need to rest and sometimes you have to push through that feeling, only the individual knows what their body is saying so listen to it.

So I think that covers everything I had on my mind today, if you have questions, feedback or rants you want to get off your chest about anything I have said then feel free to post below and say it.

Until next time keep it rubber side down.