Ponyboy's Preseason Punishment

**ponyboy** · 01-13-2004, 11:50 AM

All right, since I'm offically out of the IM comp and focusing on increasing my endurance to have a kickass tri season I will begin today.

My background: personal trainer for almost five years and corporate wellness centre manager for the last two - bodybuilding for most of that time - competing twice in fitness model shows and not placing well (too small). Took 8th out of 15 in my first one and no idea in the 2nd. I now have two jobs - work about 55 hours a week and also take courses via correspondence (currently chemistry) - my time is VERY limited.

After my last show I got sick of the bodybuilding competitive circuit and a friend convinced me to enter a short triathlon - a "try a tri" which was short. Gave me something different to train for and I found I really enjoyed it because it was a new physical challenge. Inspired me to take a spinning course and change the way I look at training by learning new approaches and techniques. My first season was not a good one, but I had fun and I learned a lot.

Last seasons peak race was a sprint distance: 750m swim, 30km bike and then a 7km run. I finished it in 2 hours 4 minutes, which was quite slow but not bad for only having trained for eight weeks.

Goals for upcoming season: Finish an Olympic distance triathlon which is a 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. Also complete a half marathon in October (21km running race). I also have about 3-4 other races planned as "B" races for the season, which begins in May and ends in October. So the first few months of this year is spent building an aerobic base for the first bit of the season.

Current program: Weights 2x per week - total body and core strength focused.
Running 2x per week minimum 35 minutes.
Cycling/Spinning 2x per week minimum 45 minutes.
Planning on adding 1 swim workout per week - this may change if my job does over the next little while as well. Assing 10% to my workouts every two weeks. I need to be able to run for an hour at least and spin for 90 minutes. Then we'll work on speed.

Nutrition is pretty good in terms of choices - I'm shooting for 2500-2800 calories a day at a bodyweight of 183 at this point. I'm a little higher on carbs than a bb diet due to my increased aerobic workouts. Goal weight around 165-170 which will make running and swimming a lot easier.

That's all for now - if you actually read this. Feel free to post away with comments and support - I know I'm not a typical bodybuilder anymore, but if you can learn something from what I do, then so be it!

**P-funk** · 01-13-2004, 11:54 AM

Damn, an Olympic distance triathalon is no joke.....good luck to ya.

**naturaltan** · 01-13-2004, 12:06 PM

Originally posted by P-funk
Damn, an Olympic distance triathalon is no joke.....good luck to ya.

Hey P-funk ... I don' t know about you, but any distant triathalon anything is no joke!

Good luck to you PB. You've got a lot of work ahead of you. This journal will make for good reading.

**P-funk** · 01-13-2004, 01:15 PM

Originally posted by naturaltan
Hey P-funk ... I don' t know about you, but any distant triathalon anything is no joke!

Good luck to you PB. You've got a lot of work ahead of you. This journal will make for good reading.

Yeah, I here that...I wouldn't run a mile if it was down hill!!! In fact you couldn't pay me to runa marathon. If someone told me that I had a choice between running a marathon or getting killed I would say "okay, let me get a meal and then kill me."....lol

**oaktownboy** · 01-13-2004, 02:59 PM

Originally posted by P-funk
Yeah, I here that...I wouldn't run a mile if it was down hill!!! In fact you couldn't pay me to runa marathon. If someone told me that I had a choice between running a marathon or getting killed I would say "okay, let me get a meal and then kill me."....lol

i knew i wasn't the only one who thought like this

**ponyboy** · 01-13-2004, 06:08 PM

If you think I'm crazy now, wait a couple of years until I'm doing my first Ironman. That's a 2.4 mile swim (4000 meters or 400 laps of a typical pool), 112 mile (180 km) bike ride and THEN you run a marathon after all that.

Takes most people 12-14 hours of constant movement. Crazy ass but I'd love to be able to say that I did it, just like I love telling people I can deadlift double my bodyweight or do standing squats on a stability ball.

I noticed that I write a lot and I'm long winded when I write. Oh well. I'll try to keep it interesting.

Ran tonight: 6.2-6.3 MPH pace and I took my time up to 40 minutes.

Total distance: 4.1 miles or 6.56km. I'm going to stay at that time until next week or the week after when it goes up to 45 minutes.

Big interview tomorrow which I am really nervous about because I REALLY want this new job. It would be a great step forward in my career because I would finally be in a management position again like I have wanted for a while. Plus I could tell my current employer to take a flying leap, which would feel good too.

**P-funk** · 01-13-2004, 07:46 PM

good luck with the interview.

**Monolith** · 01-13-2004, 07:49 PM

Originally posted by ponyboy
do standing squats on a stability ball

**P-funk** · 01-13-2004, 08:13 PM

I love standing squats on the stability ball....used to do them all the time.

**ponyboy** · 01-14-2004, 10:32 AM

Had a great interview, I think. It was mostly just so that the staff that is already training there could meet me and get an idea of what I'm all about. I think we got along okay. I know it is down to me and five other guys, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I think I have the best balance of fitness/wellness experience and business skills to be a good manager. They said they should let me know by Friday.

Probably no workout today unless I get one in tonight - I'm working until 7pm tonight.

**naturaltan** · 01-14-2004, 11:07 AM

good luck with the interview ... sounds like a great opportunity.

I'm with Monolith ... what is a standing squat on a stability ball?

**Jenny** · 01-14-2004, 11:17 AM

Haha, I love the name of this journal

I agree with the others, any triathlon is no joke! An Ironman is practicly insanity

Hope you get good news on friday!

**ponyboy** · 01-14-2004, 11:41 AM

Originally posted by naturaltan
good luck with the interview ... sounds like a great opportunity.

I'm with Monolith ... what is a standing squat on a stability ball?

Take a stability ball, stand on it without any support (requires excellent balance and core control) and squat (ass to heels if possible). Takes incredible balance. It usually takes me about six months for clients to be able to do this. I can do it holding a 25 pound plate on my chest at this point.

In case anyone wants to try this, I always do it inside a power rack or safety cage so there is something to grab onto if you lose your balance. You can take a nasty header doing this.

**ponyboy** · 01-15-2004, 05:13 AM

Holy crap last night was a nightmare. It took me 2.5 HOURS to get home from work, which is only 50km away (that's 32 miles to you US people) because of snow and ice and stupid traffic. Frigging Canada. I'll take any southern state any day of the year. I also found out my new Saturn SUV totally SUCKS in the snow

It was sliding everywhere. Good thing I know how to drive properly.

Good news is that I get to skip work today because all my appointments cancelled. I'm going to try out my new trainer with my new bike for the first time! Yee ha!

**ponyboy** · 01-19-2004, 10:56 AM

Had my assessment on Friday and got some really eye opening news. This guy is a Level 2 CHEK practicioner and really knows his stuff about imbalance and biomechanics. He came up with the following things about me:

My transverse activation is almost zero - meaning I'm not getting any internal core support when lifting.
My breathing is messed up - I'm only breathing from the top part of my lungs and not getting enough oxygen transfer.
My pelvis is out of alignment.
My hip rotators are out of alignment - my right hip could rotate 35 degrees and my left only 12 degrees. Holy crap.

My hamstrings are short because of an impingement on my sciatic nerve on my left side.
My left hip is an inch lower than my right.
I have a very weak lower back and my lumbar spine is pretty flat.
Other short tight areas - my right obliques and my lats were the big ones.

So I'm making some changes to my routine for 6-8 weeks. Here are some of the exercises I'm adding to my routine if anyone is interested:

Breathing - learning to diaphragmatically breathe.
Hyperextensions on a swiss ball to strengthen the lumbar spine.
Nerve Flossing to loosen up the nerve on my left side.
Lateral Oblique crunches on a stability ball.
Full ROM squats with no weight until my pelvis is back in alignment.
Hip Lifts for my left side to raise it back into place.
Transverse 4 point activation to train my core activiation.
Stretching : lower back, lats, and many other areas that are tight.

Did the first workout this morning and I must say it was interesting. There is a big difference when you are correcting imbalance rather than lifting heavy, but it tires you out just as much. We'll see how things progress.

**P-funk** · 01-19-2004, 05:31 PM

damn, sounds like the guy really ripped you a new one!!

**ponyboy** · 01-19-2004, 08:08 PM

It definitely was a big eye opener, but as a trainer it also opened my eyes to making sure these are issues that I start to check out and train with my clients. It doesn't matter if you can lift 250 pounds if it is putting too much strain on your system. It was a pretty cool learning experience.

Nerve flossing rocks - you have no idea how funky you can make your body feel. Fun with biomechanics. Woo hoo.

Plus hopefully in the long run it will help my running and swimming.

**ponyboy** · 01-20-2004, 04:58 AM

Decided I'm going to put down some deep thoughts in here like in NT's journal - it's therapeutic to read that type of stuff. As soon as I have any I'll let you know.

**ponyboy** · 01-20-2004, 07:40 AM

Just found out I got a 3rd interview for that job. It's down to me and one other guy. I'm going to kick his ass.

That is all.

**naturaltan** · 01-20-2004, 10:25 AM

go and kick some a$$ pb!

**ponyboy** · 01-21-2004, 01:11 PM

Did my program this morning. Worked 15 hours yesterday. Woo hoo. Here's what I accomplished:

Diaphragmatic breathing. (10 deep breaths 10 seconds in, hold 2 s, 10 out)
4 point TVA activation. (10 seconds on/8 off)
Stretching - McKenzie Press and Prayer Stretch 2x each

Triset: Lateral Stability Ball flexion
Ball Hyperextensions
Hip Lifts (left side only)
2 sets total 12-15 reps each.

Nerve Flossing - 2 times 10 reps each.
Doesn't sound like much but it took me 25 minutes.

**ponyboy** · 01-21-2004, 07:23 PM

Just finished a 35 minute rid on my trainer. Goddamn its boring riding when you aren't going anywhere. I managed to get through it by watching reality TV - flipping back and forth between The Apprentice and American Idol.

I think I'm addicted to television. I watch way too much of it whenever I have free time, which is pretty rare. I should be doing things that are more productive.

My hours at work got cut today - effectively a two day per week layoff

Means I'm going to be hit pretty hard financially unless I get this new job. So I'm going to kick some ass and get it. Today was just generally not a good day so I'm glad it's over. Tomorrow will be better.

**P-funk** · 01-21-2004, 07:28 PM

when is the next interview?? Hoep you get it.

Can you get any private (cash) clients outside of the gym to make up for the money you are losing there??

**ponyboy** · 01-22-2004, 04:51 AM

Yeah basically I'll have to try to fill my two new days off with clients to make up for the shortfall. My budget is going to be stretched pretty thin for a couple of months though, because as you know it takes time to build those clients. Good thing I already bought my expensive bike.

**ponyboy** · 01-23-2004, 05:21 AM

30 minute run yesterday - breaking in new shoes so it felt a little funny and I started to get some shin splints. It will take time for them to form to my feet.

Pace: 6.2 MPH, distance 3.12 miles or 5km. Then stretching.

I'm getting my final program update from my trainer today with all of my stretches and corrective exercises written out - I'm going to make sure I post it just in case anyone is interested. Hopefully this will help bring me into better balance and support everything I'm trying to do.

Got another shot to the head yesterday. Not only did I find out that my entire contract may be in jeopardy so I might be out of a job entirely in 60 days, but I also broke up with the girl I've been seeing for three months.

Not that it's a bad thing, but it was just like wow what a craptastic week.

Good news is, things can only go up from here. I'm going to refocus and plan for the future. Nothing and nobody is going to stop me!

**atherjen** · 01-23-2004, 05:59 AM

Love the new attitude hun!

**Dale Mabry** · 01-23-2004, 08:36 AM

I have done the reebok movement screens which are pretty cool, I can only imagine how complex Chek's FAs are. Isn't amazing how when you think you are totally keyed in an expert can come in and tell you 50 things that are wrong with you?

**ponyboy** · 01-23-2004, 09:56 AM

Yeah those guys really know their stuff. I've taken two of his courses (Back Training and Core Conditioning) but to be a certified CHEK practicioner the course (1st stage of 5 stages!) is $1500 US and you have to usually go to San Diego or NY for a week. They rarely offer them in Toronto.

**ponyboy** · 01-26-2004, 02:17 PM

Just finished a 45 minute ride on my trainer. Damn it's boring, but I had a movie on so the time went by slightly quickly. There is brutal weather here today so I didn't go into the office. Tomorrow may be the same - expecting 15 cm. of snow tonight!

On Friday I got my final corrective routine from my trainer, and I did the first full workout/stretch today - it was actually a lot tougher than I thought because I'm pulling against everything my body wants to naturally do.

I also had coffee with a friend of mine on Sunday morning who was trying to convince me to do a 1/2 marathon in May. I'm actually seriously considering it. It mean being able to run about 13 miles, however - I'm going to have to increase my runs quite significantly before I can think about running for 2+ hours.

**ponyboy** · 01-26-2004, 08:32 PM

I'm having one of those introspective evenings where I've been thinking about a lot of things. Currently one of my biggest problems is that I waste a lot of my time doing things that are totally unproductive. I'm lazy. And I'm in the mood right now to change that. The truth is, if I want to change, I have to change myself just like people who want to exercise - it's just a different approach, but the end result is the same. You want to change something about yourself to feel better and accomplish more than you have before.

I wrote a big note to myself and I'm going to put it right beside my door so that I get up every day and I see it before I even leave my room. It's going to say:

"What are you going to do to make your life better today?"

Because that is the question I always never answer every day when I just go through the motions. I know that I can do great things, but I have to get off of my ass and do them instead of wasting day after day with excuses and procrastination. Just like following the quote in my signature. If I want to change, then I have to change.

There will be more events to come in the near future!

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