the Art of Falling….
Aug0
As I am a keen mountainbiker these days, I regularly run into things. Literally. Mostly the things I run into are of a material that is a lot tougher and harder then me – like trees, trunks, roots and occasionally another biker. The latter always results in a discussion which one was the hardest…. I usually win. 
The softer materials you can run into consist of sand ... Read More
Anaerobic Capacity
Aug3
Today a guest-post by Coen van Schijndel, fitness expert and trainingscoach. www.topvorm.com
When the aerobic system (meaning: with oxygen) cannot cope, because the effort is too high, the body switches to another system: the anaerobic system.
Anaerobic literally means: without oxygen. Physically, it is the moment that you r body cannot cope with the conversion of glucose from carbohydrates as it has to do so without oxygen. Without oxygen, glucose is transferred with the help ... Read More
Grief and fitness
Aug1
Where do you start when discussing how sudden loss impacts your fitness and training? There are so many aspects, I have noticed.
Whereas you may think that an event like a death in your family mostly has a mental and emotional impact, it actually goes way beyond that and has an immediate impact on your physical being. For me, against anything I had anticipated, I didn’t lose my appetite but am ravenous half the time and mostly for sweets. Despite that I lose weight – ... Read More
Life is unpredictable…
Aug0
The realisation that life is the most unpredictable thing ever has just hit me with the utmost force. My beloved brother-in-law, Edmond Spanjersberg, a fit and healthy man – passed away earlier this week, suddenly and without any warning.
This sad event obviously means I will not be writing this blog for the next few days… but I have found several great guest writers that will post their thoughts on training over the coming week.
Life is too short – enjoy it ... Read More
Max Training
Aug0
Having written about testing your maximum heart rate a little while ago, it occurred to me that it had actually been a long time since I did check it myself. In fact, I soon enough discovered it was 6 years ago! I have always trained and roughly know my limits but still – it’s good to test your max more regularly then every 6 years since your age changes (arrggh) and your circumstances change too. So to keep your training at the most effective levels, do a check once every 2 years ... Read More
Building up your training
Aug1
It’s not always easy to know how to go about building up your training, rather then doing the same thing day-in-day-out, week-in-week-out. It’s hard enough to simply train at least 3-4 times each week.
Ofcourse, your training schedule depends on what you are training for. If you are aiming for a certain race – your goal is pretty fixed and you will need to make sure you get to your best performance around that time. But your goal could simply be to lose some weight, ... Read More
Big bike ride
Aug0
I have said it a hundred times, and I’ll say it again – I love the summer. In fact, I love THIS summer in particular, although I will probably claim the same sentiment next year and have done so the past years too… This summer is special, simply because it is NOW.
Training gives you focus – and focus means you can seriously enjoy the moment. Have you noticed how often we are told at the moment that you “should be IN the moment”? It seems the new ... Read More
Summer sweetness
Aug0
It’s summer fruit time! I love it – lots of sugar and sweetness and you can always pretend you are eating your five portions of vegetables and fruit in one sitting because it is GOOD for you
So two great sorbets* I like to make because they are totally refreshing and ofcourse wickedly sweet…
Pomegranate Sorbet
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup ... Read More
Jetlag
Aug0
Everyone has their favorite ways of dealing with jetlag – most people just succumb to it actually, you see them walking round like zombies for days. And sometimes that was after a mere 1 hour flight But seriously, jetlag can be really awful and if you fly longer distances it’s a good idea to try and not get into a battle with it. You’ll lose.
There’s ... Read More
Calories
Aug0
Here’s another one of those great topics that you could spend hours on…Calories. We all know what they are used for – basically as a measurement of the richness of food in the sense that if you eat too many calories, you will gain weight and if you eat less – you will lose some. But then I got the question – what is a Calorie? Hmmmm, nice subject for a Saturday morning.
So a Calorie is indeed a measure of energy – to be exact, originally it was a ... Read More
