Jedi Powers - the yoga link

I love mountain biking - particularly flowing with speed and grace. I ride down hills with a finger hovering over my back brake and let my body move me thru turns, manueuvering over rolling stones, and passing between narrow trees. My focus is steady and i let my body have a bit of a dance - I am totally present and thinking of nothing except what is in front of me. This focused energy and strength is pulled from a secret jedi-like power.

Training can be like spinning plates - you have to manage each one diligently without forgetting about the others. You manage strength training, cardiovascular endurance, and nutrition. For me one plate spins above others: yoga. It keeps my body strong and my head open.

why yoga?

whether you ride, rock climb, snowboard, surf, run, or hike, yoga is an excellent compliment.

• keeps you limber - tight muscles can pull your joints out of whack leaving you with some lower back issues, knee pain, hip tightness (list goes on...)
• strengthens your core - better/faster climber; improve your turns; balance
• strengthens your upper body and hips
• Ujjayi breath - we all breath but tight muscles in your upper back can inhibit your body's ability to take a real deep breath. The potential of your breath (specifically ujjayi breathing) deserves a post all its own. This is the corner stone to the jedi powers!
• learn to control your mind - focusing your thoughts and emotions takes concentration and practice. stay calm and focused.
• connects your mind and body - they have a very intimate conversation behind your back, learn the language and listen.
• recovery - after a race, intense workout, or an injury. Riding buddy, Craig, ate shit over the summer on his bike - shoulder, rib, and hip were bruised and battered. He was grateful for all the stretching he was doing prior to the crash and attributes the stretching to his speedy recovery.

where to start?

• STRETCH LONGER - do your favorite stretches and hold for a minute. Notice how you breathe and try to slow your breath down and take a deeper inhale. Exhale thru your nose. If you don't have a favorite stretch start with hamstrings, gluts, hip flexors, and lats.
• TAKE A CLASS -look into taking a class near your work or home. it can be pricey but don't let that scare you. A $15-$20 per class can leave feeling brand new. If you have a bad experience, give it a break and then try a different teacher or style.
• GET A MAT - having your own yoga mat may be a stretch (no pun intended) but if you have been wanting to start yoga or are already practicing, owning your own mat is like running shoes to a runner.

I practice as often as I can with Tim Miller at the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Carlsbad. People fly from all over the world to study with Tim and I drive five minutes to get to his studio - what a gift! There are no frills - no music, no cheering, no pride, no ego - just you and your mat. You move from pose to pose guided with your breath - the flow is like that on a bike...exhale turn left, inhale turn right, exhale roll down a rocky section. Your mind bounces from thought to thought but you keep it steady with your breath.

Train hard, train smart, and breathe

Chi

The power of music...an indoor cycle workout

Since I can remember, music was always playing in my home. My Latin upbringing, enriched my life with the sounds of cumbia, merengue, and authentic Latin rhythms. I didn't get the dancing skills of my sisters -- my eldest sis with her flamenco footwork and salsa hips while my middle sister rocked the nightclubs. My love for music is more subtle; nonetheless, it connects to my soul, truly uplifts my spirits, and moves my body. To this day, I wash dishes to cumbia, fold laundry with Bob Marley, and write this blog groovin to Thievery (give me some reggaeton and it's party time!).


Putting music together for a spin class is a skill and an art -- it goes beyond finding good sounds and the right beat...it's about the experience. When I ride my mountain bike, though it is purely fun and exciting, it is intense and i'm 100% commited to my ride. My legs are burning, my heart is beating out of my chest, and my mind is focused -- the same elements that I try to achieve in each of my spinning classes. But getting to that space in a room can be a bit challenging ... in comes the power of music.


A Little Christmas Gift
Giving out a workout with music is like giving away a valuable and hard earned treasure (a lot of love and effort goes into synchronizing these workouts and choosing the music). But in the spirit of giving and knowing that my dear mountain biking friend, Craig, is freezing his ass in Idyllwild - Merry Christmas! Whether your ride got rained out (or snowed out), you are traveling and forced to go the the hotel gym, or you never tried an indoor cycling workout - here is a solid ride. With time, these workouts increase your cardiovascular endurance, lactic threshold, and increase your power output. Bottom line - makes you a strong and faster rider.



Let's do it!

• wear your heart rate monitor (if you don't own one, try to get one)
• grab some water and be sure you had a decent meal about 2-3 hours before.
• download your music on your iPod and set it the order you want.
• print out the workout below and tape it to your bike.
• there are built in breaks throughout -- stay with the workout!

1. flats/hills split (18 min) - ride flat 2 min/seated hill for 2 min (repeat) ; ride flat 1 min/climbing hill 1 min (repeat 2 more times); ride flat 30 sec/seated hill 30 sec (repeat 3 more times) HEART RATE: 80-85% BY MIN 10//Starting Over by The Crystal Method, Higher Ground by Red Hot Chill Peppers, Le Reveur (Thievery Corp Remix) by Cirque Du Soleil, Breathe Me by Sia, Drown in the Now by The Crystal Method


2. flat road - endurance (10 min) - one of my favorite trainings because it is about finding a rhythm with your breath and legs. Find a speed that you feels right for you with a mild resistance. every 2 minutes - increase your resistance like you were in a larger gear for 15-45 sec, then resume back to normal resistance; repeat 3 more times. HEART RATE IS 78-80% AT BASE LEVEL AND WILL GET UP TO 82% SO YOU ARE SLIGHTLY OUT OF BREATH. Amerimacka by Thievery Corp, Surround Me With your Love by 3-11 Porter


3. hill strength (15 min) - this part of the ride is sassy. you are a bit tired and legs will feel fatigued. Start by adding a lot of resistance and slowing the cadence to 50-60 RPMS so that you are climbing a mild-version of a gnarly hill - stay seated. Every minute, increase your resistance but keep the same cadence. Do this three times - every minute a little steeper. HEART RATE IS 80% HERE (no more, no less). After four minutes, jump out of saddle and increase your speed by 10-20 RPMS for 30 seconds; then go back to seated climb and resume your 60 RPMS for 2 minutes. Repeat 3 more times. HR AT THE JUMP WILL BE 85-87%. Penitentiary by Citizen Cope, The Time by Black Eyed Peas, Woohoo by Christina Aguilera


4. Chill out (5 min) - you are almost done. Settle back into a steady cadence on a flat road as if you are riding toward the ocean with some headwind. Relax between your shoulder blades, close your eyes and focus on your breath. Stay here as long as you want and enjoy :) One Too Many Mornings by The Chemical Brothers, Time Alone by Josh Martinez

Ride as if you were free!

Chi

Get faster on your bike - strength train

It is fun to talk about gear, packs, and more gear. To be honest, I'm a sucker for packs -- I have a pack for every occassion and every sport. But if all you have is pretty gear, you are going to look pretty silly on the trail, ocean, mountain or whereever you may be found. You need to know what you are doing and in the right physical condition to show your stuff and have fun doing it.

When I refer to training, I am presuming you have a specific goal/sport in mind, specific timeline, and there is a progression to your training -- know where you are and where you want to be. For those already incorporating strength training to improve performance (nice job) - remember to do it twice a week to see best gains with 3 days of recovery in between*. The training schedule below represents a sample strength training schedule I am currently doing twice a week. It allows me to be a stronger racer and keep up with The Boys.

Strength Training Workout

goal: mountain biking - faster hill climbing; increase power output
current power output at threshold: 161 watts (tested during VO2max test in August 2010)

This would also be a great training program for a snowboarder or skiier.

timeline: six months (race seasons resumes in March 2011)

intensity: 3-5 sets for 6-8 reps (heavy weights)

• squats (20 lbs DBs)
• 1-leg squat (using TRX)
• Jump squats -10-15 reps (currently using just body weight; will add more resistence in 4-6 weeks)
• Forward lunges (15 lbs)
• Roll outs- 15 reps (using TRX) - this core exercise is an intense stabilizer and forces your abs to contract from your pelvis (mula bandha) to your upper ribs. Any weakness in your core will show up here. I feel the benefits of this exercise when i'm riding my mountain bike down a steep, technical descent and my upper body needs to be steady.
• Twisted pikes on SB - 5 on each side - fun to do and great proprioception. teaches your obliques to engage under stress.
• Pushups with MB roll - 10-12 reps. core and upper body in one!

New to strength training? start of with lighter weight, more rep, 2-3 sets. (ego has no place here)

* The general guideline is to rest muscles 48 hours, but in a recent paper published by ACSM (see pgs 10-11), those who rested 3-4 days saw larger gains than those who only rested 48 hours.

Enjoy the beautiful Fall weather! clear skies and moist dirt ((((inhale!!! ahhhh))))

Chi

Looking at taking pictures/videos to better demonstrate these exercises. Hopefully you'll see them posted soon.