This week I returned to the joy of being a multi-sport athlete. I went out for a 25 mile cycle through the sugarcane fields, and upon returning home I immediately changed into shorts and running shoes. Exiting the house while rehydrating, I immediately went to the shed and grabbed the lawnmower to cut the lawn before another evening thunder shower.
Well, it wasn’t the traditional multi-sport event, but it was two activities that independently used to leave me exhausted.
Inspired, I did cycle then run (well Jog) (actually Walked) at the high school track. It felt great… other than the searing pain transitioning from bike to run, but OH, do I miss those triathlon T-Stages.
Week 15
Here’s to holding each other accountable when the couch looks inviting and the snacks endless.
Weight
– Don’t know. Seriously, didn’t even step on the scale.
Exercise
– Had to remain creative to fit in exercise as school’s out requires more Kiddo time for camps and pizza nights.
– Late night biking on the trainer. Who knew what an effective sleep aid that would be?
Eating
– Moderation mixed with substituting lunch times with yoga, followed up with meal replacement shake.
UNO Ring & BP
– BP stayed in the 130s range. Consistency. Started spot checking resting HR, and it settles about 52 bmp resting.
– The UNO ring slips on and off without hanging up on swollen knuckles or fat fingers.
PIC -http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Animal_locomotion._Plate_324_%28Boston_Public_Library%29.jpg
Monday – Sunday Goals:
– five days of cycling. At least one day followed by grass cutting.
– No yoga sessions. I guess the instructor is entitled to a vacation. Have fun. Continue stretching routine though.
– The increase in cycling caused me to stop weight lifting, so I want to make three mornings in the gym.
– bring lunches to work or prepared meal at home.
– Increase hydration.
How are your efforts going? Don’t just read this and dismiss it. Make a commitment today. You have peer support, CopsAlive.com expertise, and a champion fitness advisor all ready to help.
Our CopsAlive Fitness recommendation is that you consider diversity in your workout and also in your perspective as a police officer. Consider cross training as a technique in your physical fitness workouts as well as mixing things up with your mental workouts as well.
According to WebMD – Athletic trainers and personal coaches agree cross training by alternating your workout routines is a way that will increase your performance and overall fitness without stressing your body to the max.
“Implementing a variety of activity into your routines almost certainly guarantees that you will be much more functionally active … and that you can complete day-to-day tasks with much more ease,”
“What Cross Training Involves
For people devoted to a particular sport or fitness activity, there are specific activities that make up an ideal cross training routine.
For example, if running has been your only activity, your “prescription” for overall better fitness would include strengthening exercises for the pelvis and hips, as well as weight workouts to build the upper body.
If you’ve been doing only weight lifting regimens, you’d be well served by adding a cardio workout — like running on the treadmill — to your regimen.
But for people who are simply looking get the most out of their workout time, experts say, cross training doesn’t require specific exercises. In fact, as long as you create variation in your activity, you’re cross training!
“The point here is to vary activities between aerobic conditioning, strength training, endurance, and balance — and you need to vary the workouts that emphasize each one of those areas.”
For optimal success, he says, plan two to three days of flexibility and strength training, and three to five days of aerobic focus. But don’t worry if you don’t have that much time to devote to exercise.”
According to an article published in the New York Times by Gina Kolata in August of 2011 entitled Perks of Cross-Training May End Before Finish Line: “there also is a body of opinion that says cross-training is necessary and important if you want to improve your performance and avoid injury.
The science, though, is not nearly so definitive. And the answer as to what, if anything, cross-training can accomplish depends on your goal.
The American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine encourages cross-training, saying that it can provide a “ ‘total body tune-up,’ something you won’t get if you concentrate on just one type of activity,” and that “you may experience fewer overuse injuries.”
The American College of Sports Medicine’s guidelines for most Americans advise doing some of everything: exercises that increase your heart rate, weight lifting, stretching and balance exercises.
But the purpose of its recommendations is overall health, not performance. If that is your goal, researchers say, it is not so clear that cross-training in an alternate sport will help.”
The same concepts apply to mental training as well as physical training. A prescribed and varied workout can be the most challenging and most beneficial. If you have never tried brian training at Lumosity.com then I highly recommend it. Their exercises are designed by neuroscientists to improve core cognitive functions. Researchers at Lumosity have measured improvements in working memory and attention after training and all Lumosity exercises are engineered to train a variety of your core cognitive functions. Lumosity exercises are designed by neuroscientists and continually evaluated through independent research studies at institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, and UC Berkeley
So if you want to improve your overall level of physical fitness as well as well as tuning up your level of mental fitness you should vary your workouts and increase the kinds of activities you perform both physically as well as mentally.
Tell us how else we can help you and leave us your comments in the boxes below.
As we have mentioned, in addition to Scott and Kim, we are also following Rae Timme and the CNN Fit Nation promotion. Rae is a 57 year-old mother of three and a 25 year corrections officer who now serves as the warden of a medium custody men’s prison for the Colorado Department of Corrections. Every year CNN selects iReporters to race in a triathlon with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the Fit Nation team. This year we’re giving six lucky readers a road bike (with all the necessary accessories), a wet suit and a gym membership to help them prepare for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 8.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/fit.nation/
Rae said on the CNN site that she has read all the scary statistics about the mortality rates of people who work in corrections and found that they have the second highest mortality rate of any job; on average, a corrections officer’s 58th birthday will be their last. That motivated her to apply for the CNN Fit Nation team.
If you are following Rae’s twitter feed at twitter.com/TriHardRae you know that she’s doing a lot of cycling. Keep up the good work Rae we are all out here rooting for you!
EDITORS NOTE: Our Fitness Monday articles are an ongoing feature as CopsAlive.com follows Police Chief Scott Silverii, Ph.D. on his quest to lose weight and get into better shape, and Lt. Kim Lane as she prepares for the NPC Masters Nationals in Pittsburgh, PA. We are also keeping track of Warden Rae Timme with the Colorado Department of Corrections, a member of the CNN Fit Nation Team, as she prepares for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 8. We all know that fitness is critical in law enforcement, but we don’t always do what we know is right. Over the next couple of months you can follow Scott, a Police Chief; Kim a Patrol Shift Commander; and Rae a Department of Corrections Warden, as they open up their lives to you. We invite you to also participate in any way that you choose to improve, your fitness and, your ability to survive a career in law enforcement. We also encourage you to support Scott and Rae with your comments, emails, Tweets and Facebook entries.
Follow Rae on Twitter at: @TriHardRae
Follow Scott on Twitter at: @ThibodauxChief
Please encourage them and let us know about your efforts at improving your fitness in the comment boxes below
CopsAlive is written to prompt discussions within our profession about the issues of law enforcement career survival. We invite you to share your opinions, ask questions and suggest topics for us in the Comment Box that is at the bottom of this article.
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