Immersion

Friends are a nice thing to have.

I want to immerse myself in triathlon.

I'm re-booting my fitness regime. I have big races on the horizon. In 2015, I'll turn 30. Five months before I do, I plan to complete my first Ironman in Zurich, Switzerland. To prepare, I plan to do two half-distance races this year.

I feel excited to train and race again. And I want to re-engage in the online triathlon community.

The problem is, I don't know how! I used to go to Trifuel frequently, and I've used Ontri, Buckeye Outdoors, and Beginner Triathlete to log my training. But all of those sites seem less popular and less active than they used to be. Most of the triathlete blogs I used to follow haven't been updated since . . . well, since I last updated mine. I feel like Tom Hanks in "Sleepless in Seattle," completely clueless about how to date women in the '90s ("When was the last time you were out there?" "Uh, Jimmy Carter? 1978.") Where do triathletes go to hang out online, now?!

Can anyone help me out? Where do you hang out with other triathletes?

Quick Catch Video

I had a few questions about how exactly one does the Quick Catch drill which has been so helpful for me. And what better way to demonstrate than in film? Also see Dave Scott's video, which is actually filmed on a pool deck with real swimmers (not in a bedroom with a webcam)! Any more questions about this drill (or any others), just let me know in the comments.

The A to Your Q

Larissa asks:

Any tips for those of us who aren't necessarily training towards something, but simply trying to grow in general healthiness and discipline with good eating and exercise habits?

Yes! I do have advice! I think the best advice I can give you is to train towards something :smile:

I'm only half kidding; although I've seen (both in my own life and in others') that nothing motivates change like having an event you love to train for, I think you might be able to achieve the same affect by good goal setting. And while I think that "general healthiness and discipline with good eating and exercise habits" is a great goal, it'll probably be easier to stick to if you have a more concrete, specific goal. This could be something as definite as a 10 K, or as laid-back as weight maintenance. But here's the thing with "just working out": Do it long enough, and you're probably going to plateau. Now as long as you plateau at a healthy level, there's probably nothing wrong with that (besides the fact that it's boring). But if you have definite goals that you're targeting, you'll only get so far without goals and a definite plan as to how to achieve them. For example, if you're trying to lose weight but you're working out at the same intensity and eating the same amount of calories every day, then even if your caloric intake is initially enough to stimulate weight loss, eventually your body is going to adapt to that stimulus and it will begin to maintain instead of lose weight. Same thing with fitness gains. If you're trying to strengthen muscles or get your heart more fit, you have to keep varying the training stimuli in order to keep seeing improvement. Plus, setting and reaching periodic goals gives you a feeling of empowerment and achievement that keeps you engaged with your working out (which means you're less likely to burn out and turn into a couch potato). So even though it sounds uncharacteristically Type A of me, I am a big proponent of setting goals and making plans to reach them (gag, planning, I know).

Here are some tips for good goal-setting:
- Set goals that are measurable, achievable, and consistent with each other
- Have an overall, long-term goal and some small, checkpoint goals
- Your long-term goal should be meaningful for you. Because if you believe in what you're doing, you're going to be more likely to continue pursuing it no matter what happens. So, for example, if you really believe in taking care of your body because it's a gift from God, then that should be part of your goal.
- Your short-term goals are little steps that keep you engaged. They should be challenging enough that you're going to have to work hard for them. Here's what my text book says: "A challenging [short-term] goal is one that has about a 50% chance of success. Thus a well-constructed short-term goal represents a compromise between guaranteeing success, as in the case of a goal that is too easy, and requiring too much effort. Short-term goals are meaningless if they are not reasonably difficult; they will lead to going through the motions as opposed to investing real effort." Perhaps a bit dry, but concise and clear, no?
- There are three types of goals: Process goals (refers to the process, or the actual working out), outcome goals (where you're looking for a certain outcome that's somewhat out of your control), and performance goals (tied directly to your personal, subjective performance). You can have a high degree over performance goals, like if you set a goal to have a positive attitude when working out, or to practice good exercise technique; if you work hard enough and concentrate, you're going to be able to meet that goal almost every time. Outcome goals are all about social comparison, and as a result you have less control over achieving them. Like if you want to be the fastest runner in your family, you're only going to go so far by working hard, and after that, you're relying on everyone else in your family not working as hard (and not being genetically superior to you). And performance goals are harder to define . . . an example would be an interval goal, in which you want to reach a certain performance standard by a certain point, for example being able to increase your bench press a given amount over a given period.
- Set a time period of accomplishment for your short-term goals. If you don't achieve your goal, re-evaluate and adjust it.
- Establish rewards and consequences for yourself. If you meet your goal, reward yourself (for example, when I break a 3-hour olympic time, I fully intend to buy a new bike). And if you fail to meet your goal . . . well, I personally don't use negative reinforcement to achieve my goals, but if your personality works well with punishment-type scenarios, then it might be helpful to take away something you enjoy if you don't meet a goal. For example, if you miss a bunch of workouts one week, maybe the next week you sacrifice your favorite TV show.

I'll put up some more posts in the future about how to work exercise into a busy schedule, as well as tips on eating healthy, but I hope this helps to get you started.

Re-evaluations

Jonathan's most recent post has got me thinking about the way I write on this blog. In the past, when I've written for public consumption, the tone has been less matter-of-fact, more philosophical. With this "Tri Harder" endeavor, I've wanted to provide a source of knowledge for those searching the internet for help in creating or maintaining an active lifestyle.

But I don't think I've done that.

More to come.

First question

Hey all! I'm fielding my first question today, for one iggy, who commented on my very first post. Just as a kind of disclaimer, I'm not certified (yet) in any way. I am working towards my personal training certification, but I don't have the official piece of paper yet. That said, I feel I'm pretty knowledgeable about sports and fitness, and will (or have) thoroughly researched what I'm talking about. So (deep breath) here it goes . . .

Hi Tri Harder,
I came across your blog looking for general workout tips. i like what you're doing with the blog and I am wondering if you might answer me two questions:

The first is, I'm 5'9 180 lbs and I'm looking to drop 15 in 2 months. Is it possible? Here's the deal. I am usually in good shape (generally hover around 163) but I recently suffered a bulging disc and thereafter some major sciatica problems... still suffering too and it's been 4 months! Anyway, because I was so inactive from the injury I ended up putting on 20 lbs and it is KILLING ME! I need to get rid of this weight! What is the best thing i can do -- and I mean specifically. Everyone knows diet and exercise... but is there something specific you are aware of?

My next question is: My friend who rows crew is pushing me to try training the way he does. He does Yoga and breathing and weights from a DVD at www.mindandbodyworkout.net. Have you heard of this?

Looking forward to hearing from you as well as seeing some workout tips and recipes.

(p.s. my girlfriend goes to USC!)

Thanks for your comment, iggy! I'm totally happy to help you in any way that I can.

First off, how's your back now? I know that back problems can be a huge source of pain, and exercise can help. But I also want to make sure that by exercising you're going to make your back stronger, not cause more pain. So I would recommend double-checking with a doctor to see if there are any activities you should stay away from (although I'm guessing that you may already have done this). Losing the extra weight you've gained might also help reduce some of that pain.

15 pounds in 2 months is possible, even reasonable. Basically, you need to drop 2 pounds a week. That means cutting 7000 calories a week from your diet. That's a pretty drastic cut, but it's do-able. I would recommend keeping a log of what you eat and how many calories you burn every day. This will do two things: It will keep a record of how many more calories per day you're burning than consuming, and it will probably help you to make better food choices. If you know that you have to write down everything you eat, you'll eat better. Start by figuring out your base metabolic needs. I would use a website like mypyramid.gov to figure out your basic caloric needs. Based on your height and weight, I would guess you probably need around 2500 calories per day to maintain your weight.

Next, cut out 1000 of those calories. Yep, 1500 a day. That'll be hard to do, so I suggest making a plan. For example, my eating plan is based on a 1600/day diet: 200 for breakfast, 100 for a mid-morning snack, 500 for lunch, 200 for an afternoon snack, 500 for dinner, and 100 for an evening snack. I think if you make a plan like this, you're more likely to follow it. Then, I would suggest that you figure out where you need to make the most drastic cuts. For example, maybe the most helpful thing for you to do would be to eat a very light lunch. Whatever changes you make, be sure that you can commit to them. Maybe that means only eating certain things (like sweets) after dinner, or during the weekends.

For exercise, I would recommend a spinning class. Spinning burns a ton of calories, because the weighted wheel keeps your legs going no matter what, which will keep your heartrate high. Focus on getting your legs to turn over quickly, as this will put less stress on your muscles and more on your heart, helping you to burn calories more efficiently and allowing you to keep going for longer. In a normal, hour-long spinning class, I burn 450-550 calories. And that's 500 calories more that you can eat instead of cutting! Additionally, spinning bikes are usually pretty adjustable, so you can probably find a setting that's not going to put too much strain on your back.

I would recommend staying away from weights in general, especially if you have a limited amount of time to spend at the gym, because you're not going to burn as many calories working out with weights as you will doing some sort of aerobic exercise. I'd also be careful about your posture and technique when running, because the stress on your joints might potentially exacerbate your back problems.

I have heard of mind and body workout, believe it or not. I think I read about it on a triathlon forum, and the person who recommended it seemed to really like it. I took a look at the website, and I must admit that I tend to shy away from the phrase "cut your workout time in half." But that's probably because I really enjoy my workout time. If you're not specifically interested in rowing or triathlon, I don't know how helpful it will be. I think it's great that the program focuses on flexibility, though, and that might help with your back. But it's not going to help you burn calories and lose weight, I don't think (although I hesitate to give that kind of statement without having really seen any evidence either way). If you end up getting into sports like rowing or triathlon, it sounds like this DVD might be more helpful for you at that point.

My ultimate advice is to find some form of working out that you really love and stick with it. For me, it's triathlon; before I started this, I was never very athletic, and now it's one of my top priorities. I think if you can find something you love doing, fitness will come naturally from that. Hope this helps, and tell your girlfriend "Fight on!"

-J