Soft tissue
Dec0
An expansive topic – Soft Tissue. Meaning all the tissues that are not bone, effectively so skin, underlying layers as well as muscles and tendons. Often injuries start occurring when layers of tissue get “glued” together – causing less flexibility and more friction for other parts to move. Or your muscles develop tiny tears which can lead to scar tissue which in turn can lead to more tearing etc. So all in all, keeping your soft tissue loose is definitely something ... Read More
Skipping
Nov0
As I am still fighting some very annoying and persistant injuries, I am struggling with my normal calorie-blasting activities. I keep telling myself this is a mental challenge instead of a physical one for once, and I can deal with it… but it is still v. hard not to experience that feeling of exhilaration when you have completed a good run or great, very muddy, bikeride through the woods…
So Caleb, my cross-fit trainer, managed to find one thing I can do… jumping ... Read More
Cross-Fit
Nov0
I am just discovering a whole new way of training… or maybe I shouldn’t call it new, since it is a natural progression in many ways from all the “old” philosophies about training. But new or not, I am loving it! My trainer at Equinox, Caleb Chiu, is taking my through my paces, and despite the injuries I still have (read my prior blogs) I am finding that after a couple of sessions those are becoming less even though I have done some pretty nice workouts. Feeling ... Read More
Keep on running…
Oct0
A great run to do after a busy week is one that adds a little fun to your day. So rather then merely heading out, and pounding out the miles at your regular pace, let’s get some variety in there!
If you listen to music whilst you are running, then you can use that to alter your pace. If you don’t have music along …. which I don’t when I run in the woods, simply preferring to really enjoy the silence around me although I am sometimes rather disturbed by my own ... Read More
It’s getting cold and dark…
Oct0
If you are living in the Northern hemisphere…you will know what I mean with the title above..
It’s getting to that time of the year that when you get up in the mornings, it is dark and when you get home in the evening it is dark again. Not to mention that temperatures are dropping and you start getting your wintercoats out of the mothballs.
So when I turn to my friends and ask them to come out riding or running with me, they kinda give me that look that says ... Read More
Setting Goals!
Oct0
This week I have two friends who will be running marathons – separated by some 15,000 miles! Coen van Schijndel will be running the Eindhoven marathon – hoping to run it in exactly 3 hours (wow!) and Mike Kelly will be aiming to finish in 3:30 (wow2!) in the Chicago Marathon…
I love the fact that both these guys have been keeping me motivated with their stories of their training. I know what it takes to run a marathon – you are out there for hours just running ... Read More
The 9 Edges Endurance Run
Sep0
Having reported a few weeks ago on the great challenge my friend Roddy and his two mates were undertaking for Charity – I just have to share with you how they fared.. Although I wasn’t there myself – it is the kind of gruelling run that you can feel in every fibre of your body just looking at the pictures – and since a picture tells more then a thousand words - ... Read More
high revolution
Sep0
I have been cycling like mad. With that I mean, I have been cycling and anyone looking at me must have thought I was mad (more so then usual even) or at the very least, I suspected them of thinking that based on how I was feeling.
The reason is that my schedule for this week told me that I needed to cycle at a lowish heart rate (that bit I can do easily!) but at an ever increasing high amount of revolutions per minute (RPM for short). And I tell you, when you are pedaling at 100 RPM on ... Read More
Easy Days….
Sep0
After a few weeks of training like mad, it’s time for an easy week. I really like the three weeks increasing the intensity of your training and then actually taking a step down and having a week in which you simply let your body absorb and recover. During a week like that, you can still work-out, it definitely is not a good idea to sit down on the couch (if you were so inclined…) and do nothing. Your muscles would just go into shock and become stiff and then when you pick up again ... Read More
Exercising for a good cause….
Sep0
In this case, YOU are not the good cause I am referring to in the title, even though that may be equally true of course. I rather meant that from time to time it is a superb motivator to support a charity with your exercising.
I used to pick one event every year for which I would go out and get sponsorship from friends, colleagues and family. Once a year not because I wouldn’t love to do it more often, but simply because you don’t want people to get fed up with you asking ... Read More
The Corkscrew
Sep1
Although the implement this exercise is named after, also may have relaxation as a result – this version is only a great, simple exercise that was explained to me by my physical therapist earlier this week. It is one of the few exercises that stretches all the tendons that keep your skeleton together. And as you will notice when you do this one, it tells you exactly which areas you may need to concentrate on for a while!
Lie flat on your back on a soft mat or rug – stretch ... Read More
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
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
Block training for strength
Jul0
If you are looking to build strength and resilience – you might want to consider block training. Simple word – very hard training! I do block training on the bike in the gym since this is one training session that I really like to control v. closely in terms of effort and time.
The idea is simple – you alternate between high RPM (revolutions per minute) with a low resistance, and low RPM with a very high resistance. Aim for 3 mins. for each block but you can build up ... Read More
Livestrong – a great site!
Jul0
Being a fan of any rider in the Tour de France but definitely one that admires the amazing performance Lance Armstrong has just shown – I obviously had to check into his Livestrong project.
To my surprise, it’s not just about a way to gain funds for his project, but the site is really good. If you are looking for all sorts of good calculators or tools, even a way to track your progress – then have a look at http://www.livestrong.com/tools. You can register and keep a ... Read More
A spring in your step
Jul0
It’s a known fact – your body ages as you get older. It’s one thing knowing this, but I have sad news – it’s even worse experiencing it!!
Of course I am not THAT old – but I definitely notice that I am less flexible then I used to be. Because your cells don’t renew as eagerly as they used to, both your muscles and joints tend to become stiffer. But seriously – you don’t have to take that! You can actually do something about ... Read More
Variety creates progress
Jul1
I got started in Triathlons because I got injured as a runner. Simple fact. I had been running for a few years, and really loved it, but did find myself getting a few injuries along the way, shin splints, heel spur, sore knees – just because I was pounding the pavement too much. So then someone said “hey, you should try this little triathlon” whilst I was recovering and because I am Dutch and therefore born on a bicycle, and I could swim a length, I thought I would just try ... Read More
