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Deanna pedals her way through a team time
trial in Bird's Hill Park along with two other unseen girls (see
below for the wide shot).
This is Deanna's first race against the
clock and she and the others enjoyed the experience |
Regimen
We
find that the only effective ongoing way for us to remain consistent
with our training is by following a more or less daily routine, and
by setting periodic competitive goals, whether competing against
ourselves or others. Without a
routine and concrete goals our best intentions tend to get sidetracked as we allow
other things to get in the way. That's not to say that we
always meet our goals, but often we do, and regardless the real
success may simply be in the genuine attempt, no matter the outcome.
Most of us have a daily
(meaning 4-6 days a week) strength training routine that takes an
hour or so each day to perform. We also try to get a few good
cardio workouts in each week, including road, mountain, or
cyclocross bike riding, paddling, skiing, snowshoeing, and more.
And we fit in some competition here and there, primarily on the
local bike trails and courses. Occasionally we plan our own
slightly more epic adventures, whether that means a weekend of long
distance on the bike or a multi-day paddling excursion.
Basically we want to have a
consistent plan that keeps us on track but we want to add enough
variety that things stay fresh and interesting.
Our daily routines vary
between members. For instance, Deanna currently does some sort
of strength workout six days a week alternating between chest and
back, arms and shoulders, and core. She's developed her
routine by picking and choosing applicable exercises from various
magazines, books, and online resources, trying to balance them to
best isolate and cover most of her muscle groups, and then by
tweaking the routine by responding to feedback from her body.
She tends to switch things up a little every few weeks by removing
an old exercise and inserting a new one just to keep things fresh
and to keep the body challenged.
Scott, on the other hand,
typically only has four strength training workout days a week, but
the work done on those days is usually a little longer in duration
(e.g. core plus chest and back or core plus arms and shoulders are
done on the same day) and he doesn't switch things up quite as much.
For better and for worse he likes the consistency of just grinding
out the same routine, though he recognizes that changing things
periodically is a good idea in order to avoid stress injuries and to
keep stimulated.
Tom, and his wife Lori, have
an extensive home gym with pro-grade weights and machines, and often
enjoy working out together as they mix up their routine often.
Lori is also a long time yoga practitioner and Tom enjoys
downloading amateur POV bike videos and watching them while churning
away on his bike trainer.
Graham has the most fully
integrated strength training regimen of all, skipping the gym
whether by choice or necessity in order to save enough energy for
his job as a carpenter where handling large pieces of lumber in high
winds on top of partially framed homes is a daily norm.
No matter our daily routine
we enjoy getting together occasionally and testing ourselves on the
local bike trails, in white winter powder, or on the local rivers.
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